Helitron (biology)
A helitron is a transposon found in eukaryotes that is thought to replicate by a so-called "rolling-circle" mechanism. This category of transposons was discovered by Vladimir Kapitonov and Jerzy Jurka in 2001.[1] The rolling-circle process begins with a break being made at the terminus of a single strand of the helitron DNA. Transposase then sits at this break and at another break where the helitron targets as a migration site. The strand is then displaced from its original location at the site of the break and attached to the target break, forming a circlular heteroduplex. This heteroduplex is then resolved into a flat piece of DNA via replication. During the rolling-circle process, DNA can be replicated beyond the initial helitron sequence, resulting in the flanking regions of DNA being "captured" by the helitron as it moves to a new location.[2]
References
- ↑ Kapitonov, V. V.; Jurka, J. (2001). "Rolling-circle transposons in eukaryotes". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 98 (15): 8714–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.151269298. PMC 37501. PMID 11447285.
- ↑ Lisch, Damon (January 2013). "How important are transposons for plant evolution?". Nature Reviews Genetics 14 (1): 49–61, See p. 50. doi:10.1038/nrg3374. PMID 23247435.
- Kapitonov, V.; Jurka, J. (2007). "Helitrons on a roll: eukaryotic rolling-circle transposons". Trends in Genetics 23 (10): 521–9. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2007.08.004. PMID 17850916.
- Lal, S. K.; Hannah, L. C. (2005). "Plant genomes: Massive changes of the maize genome are caused by Helitrons". Heredity 95 (6): 421–2. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800764. PMID 16222326.
- Feschotte, C.; Pritham, E. (2009). "A cornucopia of Helitrons shapes the maize genome". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (47): 19747–19748. doi:10.1073/pnas.0910273106. PMC 2785235. PMID 19926864.