Isolation and Characterization of Transcriptionally Active Ty1-copia Retrotransposons in Fragaria × ananassa

One possible mechanism suggested for somaclonal variation is the activation of transposable elements. The activation of retrotransposons by stresses and external changes is commonly observed in plants. In previous study, we isolated the reverse transcriptase （RT） gene sequences of Ty 1-copia retrotransposons from tissue culture strawberry （Fragaria x ananassa） plant, but not the transcriptionally active sequence. For further understanding the relationship between retrotransposon and somaclonal varation, in this study, we isolated the transcriptionally active RT gene sequences from strawberry plants subjected to different abiotic stresses. These retrotransposons were activated by spraying strawberry leaves with 2 mmol L^-1 salicylic acid （SA）, 50 mmol L^-1 methyl jasmonate （MeJA）, 50 mmol L^-1 abscisic acid （ABA）, 50 mmol L^-1 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid （2,4-D） or by inducing callus growth in 2 types of MS media： first medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L^-1 6-benzylaminopurine （6-BA）, 0.5 mg L^-1 gibberellic acid （GA3）, 1.0 mg L^-1 thidiazuron （TDZ）, and 0.1 mg L^-1 2,4-D, and the second medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L^-1 6-BA, 0.5 mg L^-1 GA3, 2.0 mg L^-1 TDZ, and 0.02 mg L^-1 indole butyric acid （1BA）. Analysis of gene sequences of 17 RTs revealed that none of them contained stop codons and/or indels disrupting the reading frame. These different stress-origin transcriptionally active RTs were remarkably similar to each other- FATEXP2-8 and FATEYS9-7 showed 100% sequence identity. Analysis of pylogenetic of these transcriptionally active RTs and the RT sequences from genome showed that there were close phylogenetic relationships of most of the transcriptionally active RTs. The results of this study have contributed to the background information necessary for future studies for evaluating the relationship between retrotransposons and somaclonal variation.

A recent retrotransposon insertion of J caused E6 locus facilitating soybean adaptation into low latitude

Soybean(Glycine max) is an important legume crop that was domesticated in temperate regions.Soybean varieties from these regions generally mature early and exhibit extremely low yield when grown under inductive short-day(SD) conditions at low latitudes. The long-juvenile(LJ) trait, which is characterized by delayed flowering and maturity,and improved yield under SD conditions, allowed the cultivation of soybean to expand to lower latitudes. Two major loci control the LJ trait: J and E6. In the current study, positional cloning, sequence analysis, and transgenic complementation confirmed that E6 is a novel allele of J, the ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana EARLY FLOWERING 3(ELF3). The mutant allele e6^(PG), which carries a Ty1/Copia-like retrotransposon insertion, does not suppress the legume-specific flowering repressor E1, allowing E1 to inhibit Flowering Locus T(FT) expression and thus delaying flowering and increasing yields under SD conditions. The e6^(PG)allele is a rare allele that has not been incorporated into modern breeding programs.The dysfunction of J might have greatly facilitated the adaptation of soybean to low latitudes. Our findings increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the LJ trait and provide valuable resources for soybean breeding.