不同地理种群二化螟Ty3/gypsy反转座子天冬氨酰蛋白酶（AP）基因序列的克隆与分析

【目的】Ty3/gypsy反转座子是广泛存在于生物体内的一类反转座子。反转座子上的天冬氨酰蛋白酶（aspartic protease, AP）基因是反转座子发生转座所需的一个重要基因。但由于该基因家族成员间变异较大,较难利用简并引物克隆得到该基因,所以对该基因家族成员的研究很少。【方法】本研究采用PCR方法克隆了二化螟Ty3/gypsy反转座子的AP基因序列,并对其序列特征和地理种群变异进行了分析。【结果】克隆获得的二化螟Chilo suppressalis （Walker）Ty3/gypsy反转座子中的AP基因具有独立的开放阅读框（open reading frame, ORF）,长528 bp,编码的蛋白含175个氨基酸残基（GenBank登录号：KF886014）。Conserved Domain Search在线工具分析显示,该蛋白中含有一个特异的Asp_protease_2保守功能域。从7个二化螟不同地理种群中共克隆获得70份AP基因拷贝。对同一基因座位上的AP序列多重比对分析,发现共存在46处碱基替换,其中碱基转换（transition）有31处,碱基颠换（transversion）有15处,70份拷贝中有69份拷贝是完整的ORF,能编码完整的蛋白。从碱基替换形式看,A→G的变异形式出现最多,有15处;其次是T→C的变异形式,有11处;其余的变异形式都很少。对比这7个不同地理种群,没有发现碱基的替换存在明显的地理区划差异。【结论】碱基的替换形式与二化螟所处的地理区域无明显相关性。本研究对于认识反转座子序列的变异特点有所帮助。     

Classification and nomenclature of endogenous retroviral sequences (ERVs): Problems and recommendations

The genomes of many species are crowded with repetitive mobile sequences. In the case of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) there is, for various reasons, considerable confusion regarding names assigned to families/groups of ERVs as well as individual ERV loci. Human ERVs have been studied in greater detail, and naming of HERVs in the scientific literature is somewhat confusing not just to the outsider. Without guidelines, confusion for ERVs in other species will also probably increase if those ERVs are studied in greater detail. Based on previous experience, this review highlights some of the problems when naming and classifying ERVs, and provides some guidance for detecting and characterizing ERV sequences. Because of the close relationship between ERVs and exogenous retroviruses (XRVs) it is reasonable to reconcile their classification with that of XRVs. We here argue that classification should be based on a combination of similarity, structural features, (inferred) function, and previous nomenclature. Because the RepBase system is widely employed in genome annotation, RepBase designations should be considered in further taxonomic efforts. To lay a foundation for a phylogenetically based taxonomy, further analyses of ERVs in many hosts are needed. A dedicated, permanent, international consortium would best be suited to integrate and communicate our current and future knowledge on repetitive, mobile elements in general to the scientific community.     

Structural analysis of 83-kb genomic DNA from Thellungiella halophila: Sequence features and microcolinearity between salt cress and Arabidopsis thaliana

Salt cress (Thellungiella halophila) has become a desirable plant model for molecular analysis of the mechanisms of salt tolerance. Analysis of its physiological action and expressed EST has resulted in better understanding. However, less is known about its genomic features. Here we determined a continuous sequence approximately 83 kb from a salt cress BAC clone, providing the first insight into the genomic feature for this species. The gene density is approximately one gene per 3.6 kb in this sequence. Many types of repetitive sequences are present in this salt cress sequence, including LTR retroelements, DNA transposons and a number of simple sequence repeats. Comparison of sequence similarity indicated that salt cress shares a close relationship with Arabidopsis. Extensive conservation and high-level microcolinearity were uncovered for both genomes. Our study also indicated that genomic DNA alternations (involving chromosome inversion, sequence loss and gene translocation) contributed to the genomic discrepancies between salt cress and Arabidopsis.     

Mutations in retrotransposon AtCOPIA4 compromises resistance to Hyaloperonospora parasitica in Arabidopsis thaliana

Retrotransposons (RTEs) are a principal component of most eukaryotic genomes, representing 50%-80% of some grass genomes. RTE sequences have been shown to be preferentially present in disease resistance gene clusters in plants. Arabidopsis thaliana has over 1,600 annotated RTE sequences and 56 of these appear to be expressed because of the exact expressed sequence tag (EST) matches and the presence of intact open reading frames. Of the 22 represented in the Affymetrix ATH1 array, AtCOPIA4 was found to be expressed at a higher level than all other RTEs across different developmental stages. Since AtCOPIA4 is located in the RPP5 gene cluster and is adjacent to RPP4 which confers resistance to the downy mildew oomycete Hyaloperonospora parasitica isolate EMWA1, we evaluated AtCOPIA4 mutants for resistance to this pathogen. T-DNA insertional and antisense knockout of AtCOPIA4 was found to reduce the resistance of wild type plants by 2-4 folds. Our results suggest that retrotransposon can be exapted to participate in plant defense response.