PiggyBac transposable element derived family
piggybac transposable element derived family
Most mammalian genomes contain decayed piggyBac transposons. They ceased their activity due to several mutations or rearrangements. The human genome contains at least five domesticated piggyBac genes, designated from PGBD1 to PGBD5. On the one hand, PGBD1 and PGBD2 were probably present in the common ancestor of mammals, while PGBD3 and PGBD4 are restricted to primates. On the other hand, PGBD5, the only sequences interrupted by multiple introns, are not only orthologous in mammals and fish but also in lamprey and lancelet suggesting an ancient domestication event about 525 Ma before cephalocordates and vertebrates split from urochordates.