Isolation and Characterization of Virus-Like Particles from Liliaceae

Transposable elements are mobile genetic elements that have the ability to\ud replicate and relocate to different positions in the genome of a cell. These elements\ud are ubiquitous in the genomes of all eukaryotic organisms and are credited with being\ud the source of the vast variation in genome size among related organisms, such as\ud angiosperms, which can differ in genome size by as much as 1000-fold.\ud Retroelements in particular are very predominant in angiosperms and have been\ud shown to account for anywhere from 30% to 90% of the genome. The massive\ud genomes that are common in the Liliaceae family (mean C value of 50 pg) are\ud extreme examples of retroelement proliferation. The Family Liliaceae provides a\ud good model system for studying the mechanisms utilized by transposable elements to\ud proliferate and evade host defenses, and for studying the impact transposable\ud elements have on the evolution of genomes. However, due to their large genome size\ud and the vast prevalence of repetitive DNA, members of the Liliaceae have not yet\ud been fully sequenced nor have their transposable elements been fully characterized.\ud In addition, there has been no attempt to isolate and characterize active retroelements\ud from Liliaceae species in the form of virus-like particles. This thesis research will\ud utilize and modify existing virus-like particle isolation techniques for retroelement\ud isolation and characterization using barley as a model plant. Application of these\ud techniques for the characterization of virus-like particles from Liliaceae species will\ud allow us to gain insight into what elements are actively transposing in the Liliaceae\ud and the extent of their activity