DNA transposon

Summary

DNA transposons are DNA sequences, sometimes referred to "jumping genes", that can move and integrate to different locations within the genome. They are class II transposable elements (TEs) that move through a DNA intermediate, as opposed to class I TEs, retrotransposons, that move through an RNA intermediate. DNA transposons can move in the DNA of an organism via a single-or double-stranded DNA intermediate. DNA transposons have been found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. They can make up a significant portion of an organism's genome, particularly in eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, TE's can facilitate the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance or other genes associated with virulence. After replicating and propagating in a host, all transposon copies become inactivated and are lost unless the transposon passes to a genome by starting a new life cycle with horizontal transfer. It is important to note that DNA transposons do not randomly insert themselves into the genome,

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_transposon

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The course covers the regulation of gene expression, which translates the information contained in the genome into function, by adjusting the levels and activities of mRNAs and proteins to the needs of specific cells, tissues and environments. A particular emphasis is given on experimental methods.

Le but du cours est de fournir un aperçu général de la biologie des cellules et des organismes. Nous en discuterons dans le contexte de la vie des cellules et des organismes, en mettant l'accent sur les principes de réglementation que vous rencontrerez dans vos études de biologie.

The theoretical part of this course covers classical genetics and contemporary genomics. Because bioinformatics has become important for genomic research, the course also includes practical applications to genomic analyses using Python, including group projects.

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Comparison of PiggyBac and Tol2 transposon systems as gene delivery tools for recombinant protein production

Sylvain Genser

2012

Almost half of the human genome is derived from exogenous genetic invaders, most of them related to retroviruses. This is the consequence of longstanding interactions between retroelements and higher organisms, governed by a delicate equilibrium between virus-based evolutionary forces and control by host defense mechanisms. Insight into these longstanding genetic conflicts is suggesting leads for novel therapeutic strategies to fight HIV infection. In 2001, the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) and the Human Genome Project (HGP) consortia provided first drafts of the sequence of the human genome. Completed in 2004, this effort opened new avenues for understanding the genetic bases of both physiological and pathological process, hence to move towards a more global comprehension of health and disease. As insights into the content of the human genome were gained, it quickly became apparent that only a fraction, barely two percent, encodes for proteins, which had been traditionally considered as the main executive arms of the cell. More strikingly even, close to 50 percent of human DNA was found to derive from genetic invaders called transposons, most of them retroelements functionally related to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Found in the genomes of all species, transposons are motors of evolution, yet their uncontrolled spread can be fatal to their host organisms. Their presence in higher species thus reflects a delicate equilibrium between occasional permissiveness and tight restriction, through innate immunity mechanisms also engaged in protection against their exogenous viral counterparts.

Swiss Medical Publishers Ltd / EMH Swiss Medical Publishers2009

Evolutionally dynamic L1 regulation in embryonic stem cells

Andrea Coluccio, Julien Léonard Duc, Gabriela Ecco, Marc Samuel Friedli, Suk Min Jang, Adamantia Kapopoulou, Didier Trono, Priscilla Turelli

Mobile elements are important evolutionary forces that challenge genomic integrity. Long interspersed element-1 (L1, also known as LINE-1) is the only autonomous transposon still active in the human genome. It displays an unusual pattern of evolution, with, at any given time, a single active L1 lineage amplifying to thousands of copies before getting replaced by a new lineage, likely under pressure of host restriction factors, which act notably by silencing L1 expression during early embryogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that in human embryonic stem (hES) cells, KAP1 (KRAB [Krüppel-associated box domain]-associated protein 1), the master cofactor of KRAB-containing zinc finger proteins (KRAB-ZFPs) previously implicated in the restriction of endogenous retroviruses, represses a discrete subset of L1 lineages predicted to have entered the ancestral genome between 26.8 million and 7.6 million years ago. In mice, we documented a similar chronologically conditioned pattern, albeit with a much contracted time scale. We could further identify an L1-binding KRAB-ZFP, suggesting that this rapidly evolving protein family is more globally responsible for L1 recognition. KAP1 knockdown in hES cells induced the expression of KAP1-bound L1 elements, but their younger, human-specific counterparts (L1Hs) were unaffected. Instead, they were stimulated by depleting DNA methyltransferases, consistent with recent evidence demonstrating that the PIWI-piRNA (PIWI-interacting RNA) pathway regulates L1Hs in hES cells. Altogether, these data indicate that the early embryonic control of L1 is an evolutionarily dynamic process and support a model in which newly emerged lineages are first suppressed by DNA methylation-inducing small RNA-based mechanisms before KAP1-recruiting protein repressors are selected.

Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press, Publications Dept2014

Evolutionally dynamic L1 regulation in embryonic stem cells

Andrea Coluccio, Julien Léonard Duc, Gabriela Ecco, Marc Samuel Friedli, Suk Min Jang, Adamantia Kapopoulou, Didier Trono, Priscilla Turelli

Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press, Publications Dept2014