SINEBase: a database and tool for SINE analysis

SINEBase (http://sines.eimb.ru) integrates the revisited body of knowledge about short interspersed elements (SINEs). A set of formal definitions concerning SINEs was introduced. All available sequence data were screened through these definitions and the genetic elements misidentified as SINEs were discarded. As a result, 175 SINE families have been recognized in animals, flowering plants and green algae. These families were classified by the modular structure of their nucleotide sequences and the frequencies of different patterns were evaluated. These data formed the basis for the database of SINEs. The SINEBase website can be used in two ways: first, to explore the database of SINE families, and second, to analyse candidate SINE sequences using specifically developed tools. This article presents an overview of the database and the process of SINE identification and analysis.

Characterization of three novel SINE families with unusual features in Helicoverpa armigera

Although more than 120 families of short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) have been isolated from the eukaryotic genomes, little is known about SINEs in insects. Here, we characterize three novel SINEs from the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. Two of them, HaSE1 and HaSE2, share similar 5′ -structure including a tRNA-related region immediately followed by conserved central domain. The 3′ -tail of HaSE1 is significantly similar to that of one LINE retrotransposon element, HaRTE1.1, in H. armigera genome. The 3′ -region of HaSE2 showed high identity with one mariner-like element in H. armigera. The third family, termed HaSE3, is a 5S rRNA-derived SINE and shares both body part and 3′-tail with HaSE1, thus may represent the first example of a chimera generated by recombination between 5S rRNA and tRNA-derived SINE in insect species. Further database searches revealed the presence of these SINEs in several other related insect species, but not in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, indicating a relatively narrow distribution of these SINEs in Lepidopterans. Apart from above, we found a copy of HaSE2 in the GenBank EST entry for the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii, suggesting the occurrence of horizontal transfer.

Short interspersed elements (SINEs) of squamate reptiles (Squam1 and Squam2): structure and phylogenetic significance

Short interspersed elements (SINEs) are important nuclear molecular markers of the evolution of many eukaryotes. However, the SINEs of squamate reptile genomes have been little studied. We first identified two families of SINEs, termed Squam1 and Squam2, in the DNA of meadow lizard Darevskia praticola (Lacertidae) by performing DNA hybridization and PCR. Later, the same families of retrotransposons were found using the same methods in members of another 25 lizard families (from Iguania, Scincomorpha, Gekkota, Varanoidea, and Diploglossa infraorders) and two snake families, but their abundances in these taxa varied greatly. Both SINEs were Squamata-specific and were absent from mammals, birds, crocodiles, turtles, amphibians, and fish. Squam1 possessed some characteristics common to tRNA-related SINEs from fish and mammals, while Squam2 belonged to the tRNA(Ala) group of SINEs and had a more unusual and divergent structure. Squam2-related sequences were found in several unannotated GenBank sequences of squamate reptiles. Squam1 abundance in the Polychrotidae, Agamidae, Leiolepididae, Chamaeleonidae, Scincidae, Lacertidae, Gekkonidae, Varanidae, Helodermatidae, and two snake families were 10(2) -10(4) times higher than those in other taxa (Corytophanidae, Iguanidae, Anguidae, Cordylidae, Gerrhosauridae, Pygopodidae, and Eublepharidae). A less dramatic degree of copy number variation was observed for Squam2 in different taxa. Several Squam1 copies from Lacertidae, Chamaeleonidae, Gekkonidae, Varanidae, and Colubridae were sequenced and found to have evident orthologous features, as well as taxa-specific autapomorphies. Squam1 from Lacertidae and Chamaeleonidae could be divided into several subgroups based on sequence differences. Possible applications of these SINEs as Squamata phylogeny markers are discussed.