Question

What are the differences between the major types of transposons found in prokaryotes and the ones found in eukaryotes?

Answer 1

A difference between certain eukaryotic and prokaryotic transposable elements lies in the mechanism of transposition.

Most transposable elements in bacteria transpose directly as DNA.

Whereas eukaryotic transposable elements transpose through an RNA intermediate; prokaryotic elements do not use an RNA intermediates.

In contrast most mobile elements in eukaryotes are retrotransposons. Transposable elements that transpose through an RNA intermediate utilising a reverse transcriptase are termed retrotransposons.

Retrotransposons can be divided into two types-

• LTR
• Non- LTR

Also both prokaryotesprokaryotes and eukaryotes generally produce short direct repeats at the site of insertion which plank the mobile element but the length of direct repeats depends on the type of mobile element.

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