Poster abstracts

Poster number 17 submitted by Kennedy Stoll

Characterization of a putative R2 retrotransposon and its HSV-like ribozyme in vertebrates

Kennedy L. Stoll (Biology Department, University of Southern Indiana), Rex Meade Strange (Biology Department, University of Southern Indiana), Kimberly J. Delaney (Biology Department, University of Southern Indiana)

Abstract:

While R2 retroelements have been extensively characterized in arthropods, there has been little investigation in vertebrates. We have putatively identified an R2 retrotransposon in the genomes of the lamprey species Lampetra aepyptera and Lethenteron appendix. R2 retrotransposons are a class of transposon that move via an RNA intermediate through eukaryotic genomes using Target Primed Reverse Transcription. These elements insert themselves in the middle of the 28S rDNA gene, and the R2 gene is transcribed as part of the larger rDNA cassette and cleaves itself from the pre-rRNA transcript via an HSV-like ribozyme encoded in its 5’UTR. We have characterized these putative transposons via sequencing, locus quantification via qPCR, and a measure of transposition activity via 5′ end profiling. We present in vitro transcription/cleavage assays to indicate the function and conservation of the 5' ribozyme activity.

Keywords: Retrotransposon, 28S rDNA, ribozyme