Transpozami

Transpozami is a term used in some linguistic contexts to denote transposable elements and their associated protein-DNA complexes, collectively known in English as transposons and transposomes. The concept encompasses both mobile DNA sequences that can change position within the genome and the enzymes, such as transposases, that catalyze their movement.

Transposition occurs via two major mechanisms: DNA transposons move by excising themselves and integrating into a new site (cut-and-paste), while retrotransposons move via an RNA intermediate that is reverse-transcribed before insertion (copy-and-paste). The transposase or integrase enzymes recognize terminal repeats and create staggered cuts, generating target-site duplications upon insertion.

Activity is modulated by host regulatory pathways, epigenetic marks, and small RNAs, leading to silencing in many tissues. Transpozami contribute to genome plasticity, causing insertions, deletions, inversions, and gene expression changes; they are major drivers of genome evolution in plants and other organisms. In some contexts, transposition can disrupt genes or regulatory regions and may contribute to disease in somatic cells.

History: The concept traces to Barbara McClintock's work on maize in the 1940s and 1950s, which established transposable elements as sources of heritable variation. Names vary by language; transpozami is one such term used to describe the same phenomena. Modern genomic analyses map many copies of transposable elements across genomes, revealing patterns of activity and silencing across development and evolution.

See also: transposon, transposase, transposome.