Emergence of master sequences in families of retroposons derived from 7sl RNA

The past few years have brought new insight into the evolution of families of retroposons. These are composed of a very small number of master sequences able to duplicate, and a large majority of copies that are inactive for retroposition. During the course of time, successive replacements of master sequences have produced waves of amplification that are recognizable as subfamilies. In the Alu and the B1 families, one can distinguish two evolutionary periods. The first involves only monomeric elements that are now extinguished (fossil elements) and is characterized by deep remodeling of the sequences. This period ends, in primates, with the fusion of a free left and a free right Alu monomer, producing the first modern Alu dimeric element; in rodents it ends with a tandem duplication of 29 bp to create the first modern B1 element. The second period is characterized by a great stability of the master sequences. The observed turn-over of master sequences is still an enigma. However, analysis of the contemporary master sequences and of the oldest master sequences provide some clues. Here, we review the very first stages of the appearance of the Alu and the B1 families in mammalian genomes.