Q: a new retrotransposon from the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Abstract
A new family of retrotransposons (RTPs) without long terminal repeats (LTRs), designated Q, has been isolated from the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. The nucleotide sequence of a complete element G‐22, was determined and analysed. Approximately 4.5 kb long, 0–22 contains two long overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) that potentially encode proteins with nucleic acid binding and reverse transcriptase domains similar to those of non‐LTR RTPs previously described. The 3 end is characterized by variable numbers of the triplet repeat TAA, immediately following a polyadenylation signal. In situ hybridization of nurse cell polytene chromosomes revealed about twenty labelled sites distributed over all arms and diffuse hybridization to the chromocentre. Cross‐hybridizing sequences with the same internal structure occur in all members of the A. gambiae complex. Genomic Southerns of wild A. gambiae specimens probed with Q suggest that Q is or recently was capable of retrotransposition.