Ab. Shcherban et Av. Vershinin, BARE-ID, A REPRESENTATIVE OF A FAMILY OF BARE-LIKE ELEMENTS OF THE BARLEY GENOME, Genetica, 100(1-3), 1997, pp. 231-240
In our search for transposable elements in barley, Hordeum vulgare, we
have isolated and cloned two BamHI-fragments of 4.7 and 4.2 kb in len
gth containing very abundant DNA sequences. The 4.7 kb fragment is hom
ologous to the extended region, including more than half of the 5'-LTR
and some part of the coding domain of BARE-I, a member of copia-like
retrotransposon family of barley. The 4.2 kb fragment, bearing homolog
y to BARE-I and the WIS-2 family isolated from wheat, is unique among
studied retroelements of cereals because it consists of two inverted p
arts, each containing homology to the LTR and UTL of BARE-1. Functiona
l motifs for reverse transcription, two TATA-boxes and two primer-bind
ing sites, were found within the LTRs. The element contained within th
is fragment was generated by significant rearrangement of a BARE-like
retrotransposon, which included inversion of the extended 5'-terminal
region and deletion of the internal domain. Therefore this element is
named BARE-ID (BARE-inverted, deleted). A family of BARE-like elements
is amplified in the H. vulgare genome compared with wild barley speci
es. The terminal inverted repeat of BARE-ID was used as a probe for ex
amination of evolutionary diversity within genus Hordeum. Our data are
basically in agreement with the modern classification system. However
, they do not support the combination of H. vulgare and H. bulbosum in
to one group with the same type of genome. New data concerning the pos
sible origin of the polyploid species, H. secalinum, confirm that retr
otransposons are a useful tool for phylogenetic studies.