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The LTR retrotransposon micropia in the cardini group of Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae): a possible case of horizontal transfer

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Abstract

The presence of the micropia retroelement from the Ty1-copia family of LTR retroelements was investigated in three species of the Drosophila cardini group. Southern blot analysis suggested the existence of at least four micropia copies in the genomes of D. cardinoides, D. neocardini and D. polymorpha populations. The high sequence similarity between dhMiF2 and Dm11 clones (micropia retroelements isolated from D. hydei and D. melanogaster, respectively) with micropia sequences amplified from D. cardini group genome supports the hypothesis that this retroelement plays an active role in horizontal transfer events between D. hydei and the D. cardini group.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERGS research funding. The authors thank MSc Adriana Ludwig for statistical support and discussion, Daniel F. Dombrosky for valuable help and the members of the Drosophila Laboratories from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. We thank also the two anonymous reviewers’ valuable suggestions, Dr. Claudia M. A. Carareto and Dr. Dirk-Henner Lankenau for kindly providing the dhMiF2 plasmid, and Félix Nonnemacher for English revision.

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  1. Programa de Pós Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Juliana Cordeiro & Élgion L. S. Loreto

  2. Programa de Pós Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15053, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP: 91501-970, Brazil

    Juliana Cordeiro, Lizandra J. Robe, Élgion L. S. Loreto & Vera L. S. Valente

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  1. Juliana Cordeiro
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  2. Lizandra J. Robe
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  3. Élgion L. S. Loreto
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  4. Vera L. S. Valente
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Correspondence to Juliana Cordeiro.

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Cordeiro, J., Robe, L.J., Loreto, É.L.S. et al. The LTR retrotransposon micropia in the cardini group of Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae): a possible case of horizontal transfer. Genetica 134, 335–344 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-008-9241-2

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