Extensive Amplification and Transposition of a Novel Repetitive Element, Xstir, Together with Its Terminal Inverted Repeat in the Evolution of Xenopus

A DNA fragment containing short tandem repeat sequences (approximately 86-bp repeat) was isolated from a Xenopus laevis cDNA library. Southern blot and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that the repeat was highly dispersed in the genome and was present at approximately 1 million copies per haploid genome. We named this element Xstir (Xenopus short tandemly and invertedly repeating element) after its arrangement in the genome. The majority of the genomic Xstir sequences were digested to monomer and dimer sizes with several restriction enzymes. Their sequences were found to be highly homogeneous and organized into tandem arrays in the genome. Alignment analyses of several known sequences showed that some of the Xstir-like sequences were also organized into interspersed inverted repeats. The inverted repeats consisted of an inverted pair of two differently modified Xstirs separated by a short insert. In addition, these were framed by another novel inverted repeat (Xstir-TIR). The Xstir-TIR sequence was also found at the ends of tandem Xstir arrays. Furthermore, we found that Xstir-TIR was linked to a motif characterizing the T2 family which belonged to a vertebrate MITE (miniature inverted-repeat transposable element) family, suggesting the importance of Xstir-TIR for their amplification and transposition. The present study of 11 anuran and 2 urodele species revealed that Xstir or Xstir-like sequences were extensively amplified in the three Xenopus species. Genomic Xstir populations of X. borealis and X. laevis were mutually indistinguishable but significantly different from that of X. tropicalis. Received: 5 April 2000 / Accepted: 3 August 2000