Mobile genetic elements in eukaryotes: past, present, and future
Liubomirskaia, N.V.; Il'in, I.V.
Molekuliarnaia Biologiia 33(6): 958-968
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0026-8984 PMID: 10624688 Document Number: 505624
A review of the most interesting and significant discoveries in the structure and function of eukaryote genome made during the studies of mobile genetic elements and, in particular, transposons of Drosophila is presented. The history of the discovery of the mobile elements is considered; their classification is presented, as are the general plan of structural organization and the mechanisms of transposition and transcription. Special attention is paid to the role of the mobile elements in the function of individual genes and genome as a whole. It is shown that retrotransposons can serve a good model for studying the mechanisms of interaction between individual genome components.