Tyl6, a novel Ty3/<i>gypsy</i>‐like retrotransposon in the genome of the dimorphic fungus <i>Yarrowia lipolytica</i>

Abstract

The novel LTR retrotransposon Tyl6 was detected in the genome of the dimorphic fungus Yarrowia lipolytica. Sequence analysis revealed that this element is related to the well-known Ty3 element of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and, especially, to the recently described Tse3 retrotransposon of Saccharomyces exiguus and to the del1-like plant retrotransposons. Tyl6 is 5108 bp long, is flanked by two identical long terminal repeats (LTR), each of 276 bp, and its ORFs are separated by a -1 frameshift. Both ORFs are intact and deduced translation products display a significant similarity with those of previously described Ty3/gypsy retrotransposons. Distribution of Tyl6 among Y. lipolytica strains of different origins was also analysed. A single copy of the novel retrotransposon is present in some commonly used laboratory strains, which are derivatives of the wild-type isolate YB423-12, whereas other strains of independent origin are devoid of Ty16. No solo LTR of Tyl6 was detected in the analysed strains.