A new basal subfamily of mariner elements in Ceratitis rosa and other tephritid flies

Several copies of highly related transposable elements, Crmar2, Almar1, and Asmar1, are described from the genomes of Ceratitis rosa, Anastrepha luden s, and A. suspensa, respectively. One copy from C. rosa, Crmar2.5, contains a full-length, uninterrupted ORF. All the other copies, from the three spe cies contain a long deletion within the putative ORF. The consensus Crmar2 element has features typical of the mariner/Tc1 superfamily of transposable elements. In particular, the Crmar2 consensus encodes a D,D41D motif, a va riant of the D,D34D catalytic domain of mariner elements. Phylogenetic anal ysis of the relationships of these three elements and other members of the mariner/Tc1 superfamily, based on their encoded amino acid sequences, sugge sts that they form a new basal subfamily of man. ner elements, the rosa sub family. BLAST analyses identified sequences from other diptera, including D rosophila melanogaster, which appear to be members of the rosa subfamily of mariner elements. Analyses of their molecular evolution suggests that Crma r2 entered the genome of C. rosa in the recent past, a consequence of horiz ontal transfer.