High Resolution Detection of Genetic Changes Associated with Transposons

Transposable elements (TEs) are repetitive sequences, capable of inducing genetic mutations through their transpositional activity, or by non-homologous or illegitimate recombination. Because of their similarity and often high copy numbers, examining the effects of mutations caused by TEs in different samples (tissues, individuals, species, etc.) can be difficult. Thus, high throughput methods have been developed for genotyping TEs in un-sequenced genomes. A common method is termed Transposon Display (or transposon SSAP), which utilizes restriction enzymes and PCR amplification to produce chimeric DNA molecules that include genomic and TE DNA. The advent of second generation sequencing technologies, such as 454-pyrosequencing, have dramatically improved the resolution of this assay, allowing the simultaneous sequencing of all PCR products, representing all amplified TE sites in a specific genome.