Conserved features at the 5′ end of Drosophila R2 retrotransposable elements: implications for transcription and translation
Abstract
R2 non-LTR retrotransposable elements insert site-specifically into the 28S ribosomal genes of insects. The sequence of the 5' end of full-length R2 elements from thirteen species of Drosophila were compared. Sequences within the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) revealed little to suggest the presence of a promoter. Protein translation initiates within the 5' UTR and requires the bypassing of a highly conserved termination codon preceding the single R2 open reading frame. This bypassing probably involves a conserved RNA secondary structure which brings a potential initiation codon into close proximity to this termination codon. The most highly conserved sequence within the 5' UTR has properties similar to internal ribosomal entry sites. Based on these findings, we propose that R2elements are co-transcribed with the 28S gene and are translated as part of a large ribosomal subunit.
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R2 elements do not have their own promoters and therefore can be transcribed only as part of pre-rRNA.
“Along with unusually high specificity of integration, another peculiarity of R2 elements is that they do not have their own promoters and therefore can be transcribed only as a part of pre-rRNA (39–42).”
From Impaired function of rDNA transcription initiation machinery leads to derepression of ribosomal genes with insertions of R2 retrotransposon (2022) · cites this paper as [39]
The R2 element integrates exclusively into the rDNA locus and is capable to be transcribed only as part of pre-rRNA.
“The R2 element integrates exclusively into the rDNA locus and is capable to be transcribed only as part of pre-rRNA (39–42).”
From Impaired function of rDNA transcription initiation machinery leads to derepression of ribosomal genes with insertions of R2 retrotransposon (2022) · cites this paper as [39]
Cites
Origin and evolution of retroelements based upon their reverse transcriptase sequences
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Self-citationKidd, S. J., & Glover, D. M. (1981) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/0022-2836(81)90428-9 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
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Zhou, J., & Eickbush, T. H. (2009) · PLoS Genetics · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000386 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationFefelova, E. A., Pleshakova, I. M., Mikhaleva, E. A., Pirogov, S. A., Poltorachenko, V. A., Abramov, Y. A., Romashin, D. D., Shatskikh, A. S., Blokh, R. S., Gvozdev, V. A., et al. (2022) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gkab1276 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- George, J. A., & Eickbush, T. H.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- University of Rochester (US)
- Corresponding author
- Eickbush, T. H.
- Venue
- Insect Molecular Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1999-02
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-10
- ISSN
- 0962-1075 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2583
- OpenAlex
- W2126403564
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Insect Molecular Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM 42790, R01GM042790)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
- Keywords
- Drosophila, 5' untranslated region, internal ribosome entry site, RNA secondary structure, translation initiation, cotranscription, non-LTR retrotransposons, conserved motifs
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Base Sequence, Drosophila, Molecular Sequence Data, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Transcription, Genetic, Protein Biosynthesis, Open Reading Frames, Conserved Sequence, Retroelements, 5' Untranslated Regions
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