What are the Alu elements in the human genome?
An Alu element (or simply, “Alu”) is a transposable element, also known as a “jumping gene.” Transposable elements are rare sequences of DNA that can move (or transpose) themselves to new positions within the genome of a single cell. Alu elements are about 300 bases long and are found throughout the human genome.
What are Alu elements and how do they affect the human genome?
Alu elements are responsible for regulation of tissue-specific genes. They are also involved in the transcription of nearby genes and can sometimes change the way a gene is expressed. Alu elements are retrotransposons and look like DNA copies made from RNA polymerase III-encoded RNAs.
What chromosome is Alu on?
A member of the Alu family of repeated DNA elements has been identified on the long arm of the human Y chromosome, Yq11. This element, referred to as the Y Alu polymorphic (YAP) element, is present at a specific site on the Y chromosome in some humans and is absent in others.
Is ALU a retrotransposon?
Alu elements are highly repetitive DNA sequences that can be classified as SINEs (short interspersed elements), which are themselves a type of “nonautonomous” retrotransposon. (Retrotransposons are TEs that move about the genome via an RNA intermediary.)
How does ALU jump?
Alu is an example of a so-called “jumping gene” – a transposable DNA sequence that “reproduces” by copying itself and inserting into new chromosome locations.
What are the main components of ALU?
Signals
- Data. A basic ALU has three parallel data buses consisting of two input operands (A and B) and a result output (Y).
- Opcode.
- Status.
- Arithmetic operations.
- Bitwise logical operations.
- Bit shift operations.
- Multiple-precision arithmetic.
- Complex operations.
Are Alu elements retrotransposons?
Alu elements are highly repetitive DNA sequences that can be classified as SINEs (short interspersed elements), which are themselves a type of “nonautonomous” retrotransposon.
Where are Alu elements found in the human genome?
Alu Elements. An Alu element (or simply, “Alu”) is a transposable element, also known as a “jumping gene.” Transposable elements are rare sequences of DNA that can move (or transpose) themselves to new positions within the genome of a single cell. Alu elements are about 300 bases long and are found throughout the human genome.
How often are Alu elements added to the human lineage?
Human diversity. Alu elements have continued to insert in the modern human lineage as evidenced by their continued contribution to human genetic disease. It is estimated that there is about one new Alu insert per 20 human births [55], leading to about one in every 1,000 new human genetic diseases [23].
Why are Alu elements important to modern humans?
Although active at higher levels earlier in primate evolution, Alu elements continue to insert in modern humans, including somatic insertion events, creating genetic diversity and contributing to disease through insertional mutagenesis.
How does the Alu element affect gene expression?
Many individual Alu elements have wide-ranging influences on gene expression, including influences on polyadenylation [ 3, 4 ], splicing [ 5 – 7] and ADAR (adenosine deaminase that acts on RNA) editing [ 8 – 10 ].
