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Retrotransposition of Alu elements: how many sources?

2004; Elsevier BV; Volume: 20; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.tig.2004.07.012

1362-4555

Richard Cordaux, Dale J. Hedges, Mark A. Batzer,

Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies

It is generally thought that only a few Alu elements are capable of retrotransposition and that these 'master' sources produce inactive copies. Here, we use a network phylogenetic approach to demonstrate that recently integrated human-specific Alu subfamilies typically contain 10-20% of secondary source elements that contributed 20-40% of all subfamily members. This multiplicity of source elements provides new insight into the remarkably successful amplification strategy of the Alu family.