A LINE element from the pufferfish (fugu) Fugu rubripes which shows similarity to the CR1 family of non-LTR retrotransposons

This study describes the consensus sequence of a full-length (4585 bp) non-LTR retrotransposon from the fugu fish, Fugu rubripes. The retrotransposon, termed Maul, is represented by a group of very similar LINE elements found as multiple copies within the fish genome. Two long open reading frames (ORFs) are predicted from the sequence. The first ORF has a domain resembling a novel zinc finger motif recently found in both a turtle and a chicken (CR1) non-LTR retrotransposon. The second ORF includes sequences homologous to the endonuclease, reverse transcriptase and carboxy-terminal domains found in other non-LTR retrotransposons. Sequence comparisons of the predicted translation products of the two ORFs indicate that Maul is most closely related to a class of non-LTR retrotransposons represented by the CR1-like elements (chicken repeat 1 elements) that are present in several avian species and have recently been described in the turtle Platemys spixii. The sequence of the 3' untranslated region also supports this relationship since Maul resembles the CR1 like elements in not having a poly-A tail. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.