Scientists Develop Tool to Detect Transposable Genetic Elements

Scientists from the Iowa State University have developed a new tool that can pinpoint the location and history of irrelevant and redundant DNA segments in an organism’s genome. The software TEnest, designed by Brent Kronmiller and Roger Wise, will help researchers accelerate genome assembly by identifying the position of transposable genetic elements. These elements exist throughout the genome and can cause gene or chromosome mutations. They can also provide a mechanism that allows gene functions to evolve. Transposable elements are widespread in plant genomes. For instance, the human genome is composed of 45 percent repeat sequences, while the corn genome contains 67 percent repeat sequences.

Repetitive elements are difficult to sort out, since they tend to hide within themselves. TEnest can solve this problem since it is capable of unraveling nested segments and reconstructing full length repeats. The software has been applied to four agriculturally important grains: maize, barley, wheat, and rice. Oat, sorghum, and soybean sequencing groups have also expressed interest in developing organism specific databases.

Read more at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impact/2008/nri/11171_genome.html