Genetics, Vol. 155, 273-281, May 2000, Copyright © 2000

Evidence for Recent Invasion of the Medaka Fish Genome by the Tol2 Transposable Element

Akihiko Kogaa, Atsuko Shimadab, Akihiro Shimab, Mitsuru Sakaizumic, Hidenori Tachidad, and Hiroshi Horia
a Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan,
b Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan,
c Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan
d Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

Corresponding author: Hiroshi Hori, Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan., hori{at}bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp (E-mail)

Communicating editor: M. J. SIMMONS

Tol2 is a transposable element of the terminal-inverted-repeat class, residing in the genome of the medaka fish Oryzias latipes. The genus Oryzias contains more than 10 species for which phylogenetic relationships have previously been estimated. To infer the history of Tol2 in this genus we performed genomic Southern blots and PCR analyses of 10 of the species. It was revealed that Tol2 occurs in 2 of the 10 species (O. curvinotus and O. latipes) and that the length and the restriction map structure of Tol2 are identical in the two cases. Further, sequencing analysis revealed an extremely low level of divergence compared with that in a nuclear gene. These results suggest recent incorporation of Tol2 into one or both of the two species, implying horizontal transfer of Tol2 from one species to the other or into them both from a common source.





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