Terminal-RepeatRetrotransposonswithGAGDomaininPlant Genomes: A New Testimony on the Complex World of Transposable Elements

garnis fajriah;

A novel structure of non autonomous long terminal repeat(LTR) retro transpos on scalled terminal repeat with GAG domain(TR-GAG) has been described in plants, both in monocotyledonous, dicotyledonous and basal angiosperm genomes. TR-GAGs are relatively short elements in length (<4kb) showing the typical features of LTR-retrotransposons. However, they carry only one open reading frame coding for the GAG precursor protein involved for instance in transposition, theassembly, and the packaging of the element into the virus-like particle. GAG precursors show similarities with both Copia and Gypsy GAG proteins, suggesting evolutionary relationships of TR-GAG elements with both families. Despite the lack of the enzymatic machinery required for their mobility, strong evidences suggest that TR-GAGs are still active. TR-GAGs represent ubiquitous nonautonomous structures that could be involved in the molecular diversities of plant genomes