Journal
GENE
Volume 373, Issue -, Pages 134-137Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2006.01.019
Keywords
SINEs; retrotransposons; mobile elements
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [GM 59290] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Mobile elements such as Alu repeats have substantially altered the architecture of the human genome, and de novo mobile element insertions sometimes cause genetic disorders. Previous estimates for the retrotransposition rate (RR) of Alu elements in humans of one new insertion every similar to 100-125 births were developed prior to the sequencing of the human and chimpanzee genomes. Here, we used two independent methods (based on the new genomic data and on disease-causing de novo Alu insertions) to generate refined Alu RR estimates in humans. Both methods consistently yielded RR on the order of one new Alu insertion every similar to 20 births, despite the fact that the evolutionary-based method represents an average RR over the past similar to 6 million years while the mutation-based method better reflects the current-day RR. These results suggest that Alu elements retrotranspose at a faster rate in humans than previously thought, and support the potential of Alu elements as mutagenic factors in the human genome. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available