Abstract

Abdel Ghany A. Abdel Ghany and Essam A. Zaki

The current study aimed to investigate the evolution of env-like sequences in the Egyptian cotton Gossypium barbadense. DNA sequence determination and analysis of env-like sequences revealed that these sequences are heterogeneous in G. barbadense. The observed sequence diversity, however, seems to preserve the coding information. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that plant env -like sequences group together, suggesting their monophyletic origin. Gossypium env-like sequences are, however, more closely related to elements present in other plant species. Our result suggests that envlike sequences in cotton have evolved under functional constraint and likely to play a role in the life cycle of these elements.