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American Zoologist 1989 29(2):549-555; doi:10.1093/icb/29.2.549
© 1989 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Maize Transposable Elements in Development and Evolution1

NINA V. FEDOROFF
Carnegie Institution ofWashington, Department of Embryology 115 West University Parkway, Baltimore, Maryland 21210

Transposable elements were first discovered in maize by Barbara McClintock more than 40 years ago. Today it is apparent that transposable elements are a common component of the genetic material in virtually all organisms. The best studied maize transposable elements belong to the Activator-Dissociation and Suppressor-mutator families. They are short DNA sequences that consist of genes required for mobility and regulation. Both the expression and the mobility of transposable elements are regulated in development by a mechanism that relies on the methylation of element sequences critical for expression. Elements can be stably inactivated by the same mechanism, persisting in the genome in a cryptic form for long periods. The ability of the host organism to regulate the highly mutagenic transposable elements may be critical to their survival, as well as their utility as agents of genomic change.


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