植物基因组中微型反向重复转座元件研究进展

微型反向重复转座元件(miniature inverted repeat transposable element,MITE)是一类特殊的转座元件,在结构上与有缺失的DNA转座子相似,但具有反转录转座子高拷贝数的特点.MITE时常与基因相伴,对基因调控可能起重要作用,因此,MITE正逐渐成为基因和基因组进化及生物多样性研究的一种重要工具.本文综述了植物基因组MITE的结构、分类、活性及其应用研究进展.

Progress of Miniature Inverted Repeat Transposable Elements in Plant Genome

Miniature inverted repeat transposable elements(MITEs) are special transposable elements,which belong to DNA transposon.They are similarly with DNA transposon in structurue,but hold the high copy number characteristic of retrotransposon.MITEs are normally associated with genes,and may play an important role in gene regulation.Therefore,MITEs have become an important tool in gene and genomic evolution and diversity.The research progress about MITE structure classification activity and prospect were reviewed briefly in this article.