The Tc2 transposon of Caenorhabditis elegans has the structure of a self-regulated element

We have analyzed the sequence of the Tc2 transposon of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The Tc2 element is 2,074 bp in length and has perfect inverted terminal repeats of 24 bp. The structure of this element suggests that it may have the capacity to code for a transposase protein and/or for regulatory functions. Three large reading frames on one strand exhibit nonrandom codon usage and may represent exons. The first open coding region is preceded by a potential CAAT box, TATA box, and consensus heat shock sequence. In addition to its inverted terminal repeats, Tc2 has an unusual structural feature: subterminal degenerate direct repeats that are arranged in an irregular overlapping pattern. We have also examined the insertion sites of two Tc2 elements previously identified as the cause of restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Both insertions generated a target site duplication of 2 bp. One element had inserted inside the inverted terminal repeat of another transposon, splitting it into two unequal parts.