Internal Initiation of Reverse Transcription in a Penelope-like Retrotransposon

Overview

Journal Mob DNA

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Genetics

Date 2024 Jun 11

PMID 38863000

Authors

Chris J Frangieh

Max E Wilkinson

Daniel Strebinger

Jonathan Strecker

Michelle L Walsh

Guilhem Faure

Irina A Yushenova

Rhiannon K Macrae

Irina R Arkhipova

Feng Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Eukaryotic retroelements are generally divided into two classes: long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons and non-LTR retrotransposons. A third class of eukaryotic retroelement, the Penelope-like elements (PLEs), has been well-characterized bioinformatically, but relatively little is known about the transposition mechanism of these elements. PLEs share some features with the R2 retrotransposon from Bombyx mori, which uses a target-primed reverse transcription (TPRT) mechanism, but their distinct phylogeny suggests PLEs may utilize a novel mechanism of mobilization. Using protein purified from E. coli, we report unique in vitro properties of a PLE from the green anole (Anolis carolinensis), revealing mechanistic aspects not shared by other retrotransposons. We found that reverse transcription is initiated at two adjacent sites within the transposon RNA that is not homologous to the cleaved DNA, a feature that is reflected in the genomic "tail" signature shared between and unique to PLEs. Our results for the first active PLE in vitro provide a starting point for understanding PLE mobilization and biology.

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