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- Title
TAHRE, a novel telomeric retrotransposon from Drosophila melanogaster, reveals the origin of Drosophila telomeres.
- Authors
Abad, José P; De Pablos, Beatriz; Osoegawa, Kazutoyo; De Jong, Pieter J; Martín-Gallardo, Antonia; Villasante, Alfredo
- Abstract
Drosophila telomeres do not have typical telomerase repeats. Instead, two families of non-LTR retrotransposons, HeT-A and TART, maintain telomere length by occasional transposition to the chromosome ends. Despite the work on Drosophila telomeres, its evolutionary origin remains controversial. Herein we describe a novel telomere-specific retroelement that we name TAHRE (Telomere-Associated and HeT-A-Related Element). The structure of the three telomere-specific elements indicates a common ancestor. These results suggest that preexisting transposable elements were recruited to perform the cellular function of telomere maintenance. A recruitment similar to that of a retrotransposal reverse transcriptase has been suggested as the common origin of telomerases.
- Publication
Molecular biology and evolution, 2004, Vol 21, Issue 9, p1620
- ISSN
0737-4038
- Publication type
Research
- DOI
10.1093/molbev/msh180