Jiang Ning
Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2013;1057:289-304. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-568-2_21.
The initial identification of transposable elements (TEs) was attributed to the activity of DNA transposable elements, which are prevalent in plants. Unlike RNA elements, which accumulate in the gene-poor heterochromatic regions, most DNA elements are located in the gene rich regions and many of them carry genes or gene fragments. As such, DNA elements have a more intimate relationship with genes and may have an immediate impact on gene expression and gene function. DNA elements are structurally distinct from RNA elements and most of them have terminal inverted repeats (TIRs). Such structural features have been used to identify the relevant elements from genomic sequences. Among the DNA elements in plants, the most abundant type is the miniature inverted repeat transposable elements (MITEs). This chapter discusses the methods to identify MITEs, Helitrons, and other DNA transposable elements.
转座元件（TEs）的最初鉴定归因于DNA转座元件的活性，这些元件在植物中普遍存在。与在基因贫乏的异染色质区域积累的RNA元件不同，大多数DNA元件位于基因丰富的区域，其中许多携带基因或基因片段。因此，DNA元件与基因有着更密切的关系，可能会对基因表达和基因功能产生直接影响。DNA元件在结构上与RNA元件不同，大多数具有末端反向重复序列（TIRs）。这种结构特征已被用于从基因组序列中识别相关元件。在植物的DNA元件中，最丰富的类型是微型反向重复转座元件（MITEs）。本章讨论鉴定MITEs、Helitrons和其他DNA转座元件的方法。
