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Types of Transposons

Transposons are DNA sequences that can change position within a genome. There are two classes - those that involve an RNA intermediate (retrotransposons) and those that do not (DNA transposons). Barbara McClintock discovered transposons in maize in 1950. Transposons can duplicate genes and cause mutations, playing an important role in genome evolution. They have various applications in molecular biology research such as mutagenesis and gene tagging.

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1K views13 pages

Types of Transposons

Transposons are DNA sequences that can change position within a genome. There are two classes - those that involve an RNA intermediate (retrotransposons) and those that do not (DNA transposons). Barbara McClintock discovered transposons in maize in 1950. Transposons can duplicate genes and cause mutations, playing an important role in genome evolution. They have various applications in molecular biology research such as mutagenesis and gene tagging.

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TYPES OF TRANSPOSONS

Definition: Atransposable element(TEortransposon) is aDNA sequencethat can


change its position within agenome, sometimes creating or reversingmutationsand
altering the cell'sgenome size.
Transposition often results in duplication of the TE.Barbara McClintock's discovery of
thesejumping genesearned her aNobel Prizein 1983
Transposition primarily involves the movement of specific pieces of
DNA in the genome.
The mobile segments of DNA are called transposons or
transposable element.
They were first discovered by Barbara McClintock in 1950 in maize.
Transposons are mobile and can move almost to any place in the
target chromosome.
TYPES OF TRANSPOSONS
There are two modes of Transposition:
One that involves an RNA intermediate
The other which does not involve RNA
intermediate.
RETROTRANSPOSITION OR CLASS I
Transposition involving RNA intermediate represents retro
transposition. By the normal process of transcription.
1. A copy of RNA formed from a transposon (also called as
retrotransposon).
2. Then by the enzyme reverse transcriptase, DNA is copied from the RNA.
3. The newly formed DNA which is a copy of the transposon gets integrated
into the genome.
4. This integration may occur randomly on the same chromosome or , on a
different chromosome.
5. As a result of the retro transposition, there are now two copies of the
transposon, at different points on the genome.
TYPES OF TRANSPOSONS
DNA transposition or Class II or DNA transposon
(i) The cut-and-paste transposition mechanism of class II TEs does not involve an RNA
intermediate
(ii) The transpositions are catalyzed by severaltransposaseenzymes.

(iii) Some transposases non-specifically bind to any target site in DNA, whereas others bind
to specific target sequences
(iv) The transposase makes a staggered cut at the target site producingsticky ends, cuts out
the DNA transposon and ligates it into the target site.
(v) ADNA polymerasefills in the resulting gaps from the sticky ends andDNA ligasecloses
the sugar-phosphate backbone
(vi) This results in target site duplication and the insertion sites of DNA transposons may be
identified by short direct repeats
(vii) Cut-and-paste TEs may be duplicated if their transposition takes place duringS phaseof
thecell cycle, when a donor site has already been replicated but a target site has not yet
been replicated.
Such duplications at the target site can result ingene duplication, which plays an important
role in genomicevolution.
TYPES OF TRANSPOSONS
(viii)Not all DNA transposons transpose through the cut-and-paste mechanism.
(ix) In some cases, areplicative transpositionis observed in which a transposon
replicates itself to a new target site (e.g.helitron)
SIGNIFICANCE OF TRANSPOSISTION:

1. The first TE was discovered inmaize(Zea mays) and is named


dissociator(Ds). Likewise, the first TE to be molecularly isolated was from a
plant (snapdragon)
2. Appropriately, TEs have been an especially useful tool in plant molecular
biology
3. Researchers use them as a means of mutagenesis
4. TE jumps into a gene and produces a mutation. The presence of such a
TE provides a straightforward means of identifying the mutant allele
relative to chemical mutagenesis methods
5. the insertion of a TE into a gene can disrupt that gene's function in a
reversible manner, in a process calledinsertional mutagenesis
6. transposase-mediated excision of the DNA transposon restores gene
function. This produces plants in which neighboring cells have different
genotypes.
7. TheSleeping Beauty transposon systemhas been used extensively as
an insertional tag for identifying cancer genes.
SIGNIFICANCE OF TRANSPOSONS
TEs are used for the reconstruction of phylogenies by the means of
8.

presence/absence analyses
9. Adaptive Tes Transposable elements have been recognized as good
candidates for stimulating gene adaptation, through their ability to regulate the
expression levels of nearby genes.
Combined with their mobility, transposable elements can be relocated
adjacent to their targeted genes, and control the expression levels of the gene,
dependent upon the circumstances.
TRANSPOSON TAGGING OR GENE TAGGING
Gene tagging broadly involves the insertion of a recognizable DNA fragment within
a gene so that the function of a gene is disrupted and the gene is identified by
virtue of the inserted DNA fragment.
1. T DNA ( transferred DNA) is the part of tumor inducing plasmid (Ti Plasmid) DNA
found in the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
2 Transposons or transposable elements are mobile genetic elements (DNA pieces)
that can move from one place to another in a DNA molecule.
3.Transposons or T-DNA can be used in gene tagging and gene analysis.
4. When a transposon in a plasmid is introduced into a cell, it gets incorporated into
DNA, and the gene gets disrupted.
5. Transposon insertion produces a mutant (A-).
6. This mutant can be identified by its phenotype and a gene library.

7. By identifying the location of insertion of transposon, the location of the specific


gene can be identified.
GENE TAGGING SIGNIFICANCE.
Significance
Ingenetic engineering,transposon taggingis a process wheretransposons
(transposable elements) are amplified inside a biological cell by a tagging
technique.
Transposon tagging has been used with severalspeciesto isolategenes Even
without knowing the nature of the specific genes, the process can still be used.
By molecular separation oftransposons, from a cell nucleus, thecloningis
enabled for genes which contain the transposons.
By using transposon tagging, researchers have been able to add genetic
elements frommaize(corn)andAntirrhinuminto some other species (such as
tobacco, aspenand others).
A gene responsible for a particularphenotypecan be cloned within a given
species, when movement is accompanied by the presence of a mutant
phenotype.[2]

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