RAPD marker in grapevine (Vitis spp.) similar to plant retrotransposons.

When assaying for sequence heterogeneity within monomorphic RAPD-PCR products in grapevines (Vitis spp.), we observed partial digestibility of a marker with the restriction enzyme MspI. The degree of digestion varied reproducibly between different cultivars. To study this phenomenon, two of the amplification products were cloned and sequenced. They show 91.7% similarity to each other. The DNA analysed was found to possess high similarity to retrotransposons from higher plants. This element seems repetitive and dispersed throughout the genome. To our knowledge, this is the first report of retrotransposon-like elements in woody plants.