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Science 21 October 1988:
Vol. 242. no. 4877, pp. 399 - 405
DOI: 10.1126/science.2845581
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Articles

Science, Vol 242, Issue 4877, 399-405
Copyright © 1988 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Phenotypic diversity mediated by the maize transposable elements Ac and Spm

Wessler SR

Botany Department, University of Georgia, Athens 30602.

Mutations caused by the insertion of members of the Ac or Spm family of transposable elements result in a great diversity of phenotypes. With the cloning of the mutant genes and the characterization of their products, the mechanisms underlying phenotypic diversity are being deciphered. These mechanisms include (i) imprecise excision of transposable elements, which can result in the addition of amino acids to proteins; (ii) DNA methylation, which has been correlated with the activity of the element; (iii) transposase-mediated deletions within elements, which can inactivate an element or lead to a new unstable phenotype; and (iv) removal of transcribed elements from RNA, which can facilitate gene expression despite the insertion of elements into exons. An understanding of the behavior of the maize elements has provided clues to the function of cryptic elements in all maize genomes.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Use of the Transposon Ac as a Gene-Searching Engine in the Maize Genome.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)