MITEs, miniature elements with a major role in plant genome evolution

Hélène Guermonprez, Elizabeth Hénaff, Marta Cifuentes, Josep M. Casacuberta

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Miniature Inverted-repeat Transposable Elements (MITEs) are a particular type of class II transposons found in genomes in high copy numbers. Most MITEs are deletion derivatives of class II transposons whose transposases have been shown to mobilize them by a typical cut-and-paste mechanism. However, unlike class II transposons, MITEs can amplify rapidly and dramatically and attain very high copy numbers, in particular, in plant genomes. This high copy number, together with their close association with genes, endows MITEs with a high potential to generate variability, and impact gene and genome evolution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)113-124
Number of pages12
JournalTopics in Current Genetics
Volume24
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Amplification
  • Impact of transposition
  • MITE-Class II transposons
  • Transposition mechanism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

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