Ty Elements

Ty elements comprise a family of dispersed repetitive DNA sequences that are found at different sites in different strains of yeast. Ty is an abbreviation for "transposon yeast", it has several features that are unique, and it appears to resemble a primitive retrovirus and it can be found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . A transposition event creates a characteristic footprint: 5 bp of target DNA are repeated on either side of the inserted Ty element.                                         

 Recombination between Ty elements seems to occur in bursts; when one event is detected, there is an increased probability of finding others. Gene conversion occurs between Ty elements at different locations, with the result that one element is "replaced" by the sequence of the other.

Ty elements terminate in short direct repeats and are transcribed into two overlapping RNAs. They have two reading frames, with sequences related to the retroviral gag and pol genes. 

Only some of the Ty elements in any yeast genome are active: most have lost the ability to transpose (and are analogous to inert endogenous proviruses) and transposon yeast  elements can generate virus-like particles.

Group G1.1 Ana Abreu, Ana Martins, Daniela Garcia, Marta Rocha and Rita Natividade

Ref: Ndsu.edu,. (2015). Transposable Genetic Elements. Retrieved 27 October 2015, from https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/plsc431/transelem/trans2.htm

Boeke, J. D. et al. (1985). Ty elements transpose through an RNA intermediate. From http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fgenes.atspace.org%2F16.4.html&gws_rd=cr&ei=4SkuVqyYCoWbU6S6jvgB