Identification of Alternative Variants and Insertion of the Novel Polymorphic in Gene during Primate Evolution.

encodes a subunit of the tRNA-splicing endonuclease complex, which catalyzes the identification and cleavage of introns from precursor tRNAs. Previously, we identified an -derived alternative transcript in of cynomolgus monkey. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification and sequence analysis of primate and human samples identified five novel alternative transcripts, including the exonized transcript. Additionally, we performed comparative expression analysis via RT-qPCR in various cynomolgus, rhesus monkey, and human tissues. RT-qPCR amplification revealed differential expression patterns. Furthermore, genomic PCR amplification and sequencing of primate and human DNA samples revealed that elements were integrated in human and all of the primate samples tested. Intriguingly, in langur genomic DNA, an additional element was inserted into of intron eight of . The new element showed polymorphic insertion. Using standardized nomenclature for repeats, the polymorphic of the langur was designated as being of the subfamily. Our results suggest that integration of the element in contributed to diversity in transcripts and induced lineage- or species-specific evolutionary events such as alternative splicing and polymorphic insertion during primate evolution.