A repetitive and apparently transposable DNA sequence in Dictyostelium discoideum associated with developmentally regulated RNAs.

Dictyostelium discoideum AX3 genomic DNA contains about 40 copies of a 4.5 Kb sequence. Each has the same restriction map, suggesting that they are all very similar. The sequences are scattered throughout the genome, and each of the six representative copies we cloned have different flanking sequences. Partial fragments of the 4.5 Kb sequence also are scattered throughout the genome. The DNA sequences flanking the 4.5 Kb repetitive sequences are different in different strains of Dictyostelium suggesting that the 4.5 Kb sequence is a transposable element. Each sub-region of this 4.5 Kb sequence is associated with a large number of mRNAs, all of which are developmentally regulated, but whose function is not known.