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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2005, p. 10628-10638, Vol. 25, No. 23
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.23.10628-10638.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
and
Emilio Fernández*
Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Edificio Severo Ochoa Planta Baja, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Received 26 January 2005/ Returned for modification 23 June 2005/ Accepted 23 July 2005
A new long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon, named REM1, has been identified in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. It was found in low copy number, highly methylated, and with an inducible transpositional activity. This retrotransposon is phylogenetically related to Ty3-gypsy LTR retrotransposons and possesses new and unusual structural features. A regulatory module, ORF3p, is present in an inverse transcriptional orientation to that of the polyprotein and contains PHD-finger and chromodomains, which might confer specificity of the target site and are highly conserved in proteins involved in transcriptional regulation by chromatin remodeling. By using different wild-type and mutant strains, we show that CrREM1 was active with a strong transcriptional activity and amplified its copy number in strains that underwent foreign DNA integration and/or genetic crosses. However, integration of CrREM1 was restricted to these events even though the expression of its full-length transcripts remained highly activated. A regulatory mechanism of CrREM1 retrotransposition which would help to minimize its deleterious effects in the host genome is proposed.
Present address: CIP/Institute de Chimie B6, University of Liege, 4000 Liege-1, Sart Tilman, Belgium.
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