Cloning and characterization of a highly repeated DNA sequence in Hordeum vulgare L.

A novel repetitive DNA sequence, R10hvcop, has been identified in the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genome. This 830 base pair (bp) DNA sequence has a 606-bp open reading frame and is present as approximately 1.96 x 10(5) copies per haploid barley genome. Southern blot analysis revealed that repetitive DNA elements containing R10hvcop and related sequences were dispersed within the barley chromosomes. Sequences similar to R10hvcop were also found in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), and oat (Avena sativa L.) with copy numbers of 8 x 10(4), 1.39 x 10(5), and 7.9 x 10(4) per haploid genome, respectively. Sequences similar to R10hvcop were also present in the corn (Zea mays L. ssp. mays) genome, but they were not highly repeated. Barley, wheat, rye, oat, and corn showed species-specific restriction fragment length polymorphisms of R10hvcop and related sequences. Computer-based similarity searches revealed that R10hvcop is closely related to reverse transcriptase genes in retrotransposon-like elements of several plant species and of Drosophila. The highly repetitive nature, interspersed distribution, and high degree of similarity to reverse transcriptase genes suggests that R10hvcop contains the sequence of a diverged reverse transcriptase gene.