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Direct repeat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Direct repeats are a type of genetic sequence that consists of two or more repeats of a specific sequence.[1] In other words, the direct repeats are nucleotide sequences present in multiple copies in the genome. Generally, a direct repeat occurs when a sequence is repeated with the same pattern downstream.[1] There is no inversion[clarification needed] and no reverse complement associated with a direct repeat. It may or may not have intervening nucleotides. The nucleotide sequence written in bold characters signifies the repeated sequence.

TTACGnnnnnnTTACG 3´
AATGCnnnnnnAATGC 5´

Linguistically, a typical direct repeat is comparable to saying "bye-bye".[1]

Types

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There are several types of repeated sequences:

  • Interspersed (or dispersed) DNA repeats (interspersed repetitive sequences) are copies of transposable elements interspersed throughout the genome.
  • Flanking (or terminal) repeats (terminal repeat sequences) are sequences that are repeated on both ends of a sequence, for example, the long terminal repeats (LTRs) on retroviruses. Direct terminal repeats are in the same direction and inverted terminal repeats are opposite to each other in direction.
  • Tandem repeats (tandem repeat sequences) are repeated copies which lie adjacent to each other. These can also be direct or inverted repeats.[citation needed] The ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA genes belong to the class of middle repetitive DNA.

Microsatellite DNA

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A tract of repetitive DNA in which a motif of a few base pairs is tandemly repeated numerous times (e.g. 5 to 50 times) is referred to as microsatellite DNA. Thus direct repeat tandem sequences are a form of microsattelite DNA. The process of DNA mismatch repair plays a prominent role in the formation of direct trinucleotide repeat expansions.[2] Such repeat expansions underlie several neurological and developmental disorders in humans.[2]

Homologous recombination

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In directly repeated sequences of the tobacco plant genome, DNA double-strand breaks can be efficiently repaired by homologous recombination between the repeated sequences.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Ussery, David W.; Wassenaar, Trudy; Borini, Stefano (2009). "Word Frequencies and Repeats §Word Frequencies, Repeats, and Repeat-related Structures in Bacterial Genomes". Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics: Bioinformatics for Microbiologists. Computational Biology. Vol. 8 (1 ed.). Springer. pp. 133–144. doi:10.1007/978-1-84800-255-5_8. ISBN 978-1-84800-254-8.
  2. ^ a b Richard, G. F. (2021). "The Startling Role of Mismatch Repair in Trinucleotide Repeat Expansions". Cells. 10 (5): 1019. doi:10.3390/cells10051019. PMC 8145212. PMID 33925919.
  3. ^ Siebert R, Puchta H (May 2002). "Efficient repair of genomic double-strand breaks by homologous recombination between directly repeated sequences in the plant genome". Plant Cell. 14 (5): 1121–31. doi:10.1105/tpc.001727. PMC 150611. PMID 12034901.