Maize Mutator transposon

Abstract

Transposable elements are widely distributed in eukaryotes. Due to its high copy numbers, high forward mutation rate and preferential insertion into low-copy DNA sequences, among others, the Mutator system has been widely used as a mutagen in genomic research. The discovery, classification, transposition specificity and epigenetic regulation of Mutator transposons were described. The application of Mutator tagging in plant genomic research was also presented. The role of Mu-like elements in genome evolution was briefly depicted. Moreover, the direction of Mutator transposon research in the future was discussed.

Keywords

maize / Mutatortransposon / transposon tagging / epigenetic modification / exon shuffling / genome evolution