PGBD5: a neural-specific intron-containing piggyBac transposase domesticated over 500 million years ago and conserved from cephalochordates to humans

摘要

BackgroundpiggyBac domain (PGBD) transposons are found in organisms ranging from fungi to humans. Three domesticated piggyBac elements have been described. In the ciliates Paramecium tetraurelia and Tetrahymena thermophila, homologs known as piggyMacs excise internal eliminated sequences from germline micronuclear DNA during regeneration of the new somatic macronucleus. In primates, a PGBD3 element inserted into the Cockayne syndrome group B (CSB) gene over 43 Mya serves as an alternative 3′ terminal exon, enabling the CSB gene to generate both full length CSB and a conserved CSB-PGBD3 fusion protein that joins an N-terminal CSB domain to the C-terminal transposase domain.