Rat LINE1: the origin and evolution of a family of long interspersed middle repetitive DNA elements.

We present approximately 7.0 kb of composite DNA sequence of a long interspersed middle repetitive element (LINE1) present in high copy number in the rat genome. The family of these repeats, which includes transcribing members, is the rat homologue of the mouse MIF-Bam-R and human Kpn I LINEs. Sequence alignments between specimens from these three species define the length of a putative unidentified open reading frame, and document extensive recombination events that, in conjunction with retroposition, have generated this large family of pseudogenes and pseudogene fragments. Comparative mapping of truncated elements indicates that a specific endonucleolytic activity might be involved in illegitimate (nonhomologous) recombination events. Sequence divergence analyses provide insights into the origin and molecular evolution of these elements.