Rn. Lee et al., RETROTRANSPOSON MYS WAS ACTIVE DURING EVOLUTION OF THE PEROMYSCUS-LEUCOPUS-MANICULATUS COMPLEX, Journal of molecular evolution, 42(1), 1996, pp. 44-51
Mys is a retrovirus-like transposable element found throughout the gen
us Peromyscus. Several mys subfamilies identified on the basis of rest
riction site variation occur in more than one species. The distributio
n of these subfamilies is consistent with the accepted species phyloge
ny, suggesting that mys was present in the ancestor of Peromyscus and
has been active through much of the evolution of this genus. Quantitat
ive Southern blot analysis was used to examine the variability of subf
amilies in P. leucopus and maniculatus. We found that subfamilies with
phylogenetically narrow distributions were more variable in copy numb
er both within and between species than subfamilies with a broader dis
tribution. Taken together, our data suggest that mys has undergone mul
tiple rounds of transposition since the peromyscine radiation, and tha
t five subfamilies have been amplified during the evolution of the leu
copus-maniculatus species complex.