Table 2

Current Repbase schema for transposable element classification.

Major Class
Superfamilies

DNA transposons
Mariner, hAT, MuDR, EnSpm, piggyback, P, Merlin, Harbinger, Transib, Novosib, Mirage, Helitron, Polinton, Rehavkus
LTR retrotransposons
Gypsy, Copia, DIRS, BEL
Endogenous retroviruses
ERV1, ERV2, ERV3
Non-LTR retrotransposons
LINE1 (L1), RTE-1, CRE, CR1 (LINE3), I, Jockey, NeSL, R2, R4, Rex1, RandI, Penelope
Caulimoviridae

Simple repeat
Satellites (SAT, MSAT)

Repbase currently recognizes over 40 superfamilies of transposable/repetitive element. The major classes and superfamilies are listed here. The underlying relational database structure of Repbase allows easy addition and modification of the classification scheme, based on currently accepted conventions.

Kohany et al. BMC Bioinformatics 2006 7:474   doi:10.1186/1471-2105-7-474