Journal article
Generation of microsatellite repeat families by RTE retrotransposons in lepidopteran genomes
Wee Tek Tay, Gajanan T Behere, Philip Batterham, David G Heckel
BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY | BMC | Published : 2010
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Developing lepidopteran microsatellite DNA markers can be problematical, as markers often exhibit multiple banding patterns and high frequencies of non-amplifying "null" alleles. Previous studies identified sequences flanking simple sequence repeat (SSR) units that are shared among many lepidopteran species and can be grouped into microsatellite-associated DNA families. These families are thought to be associated with unequal crossing-over during DNA recombination or with transposable elements (TEs). RESULTS: We identified full-length lepidopteran non-LTR retrotransposable elements of the RTE clade in Heliconius melpomene and Bombyx mori. These retroelements possess a single open..
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Funding Acknowledgements
WTT and DGH were supported by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. GTB was supported by the Melbourne International Research Scholarship (MIRS) and the Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship (MIFRS). Siu Fai Lee, Adam Williams, Tamar Sztal and Adrian Boey (CESAR, University of Melbourne, Australia) provided helpful discussion during the course of this project. We thank three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments, and Dusan Kordis and Jean-Nicolas Volff for identifying accession numbers for Bombyx and Tetraodon RTE elements respectively. This project was supported by The Australian Research Council (ARC) through its funding of the Special Research Centre CESAR (Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research), and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.