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TREP, the TRansposable Elements Platform

Superfamily Harbinger                   DTH

Full classification: DNA-transposon, TIR, Harbinger

Harbinger elements are Class 2 transposons.

They are well characterised in plants. Non-autonomous derivatives (Tourist MITEs) are very abundant in grasses, less in dicots. The terminal repeats usually end in GGG or GAGCA (5' end) and CCC or TGCTC (3' end).
Upon insertion, they create a 3 bp Target site duplication (TSD).


Structure of Harbinger elements

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Sequence domains

TIR5: Terminal inverted repeat
Function: Contains motifs that are recognized and bound by the transposase. Essential for transposition.
Protein motifs:

TASE: Transposase
Function: Required for excision and insertion
Protein motifs: DDE

TIR3: Terminal inverted repeat
Function: Contains motifs that are recognized and bound by the transposase. Essential for transposition.
Protein motifs:


208 Harbinger Download all 'DTH' elements in total_TREP database elements from the following taxa are in the total_TREP database:

Taxonomic groupTotal elements
PLANTAE208