A novel approach for identification of mirror repeats within the Engrailed Homeobox-1 gene of Xenopus tropicalis

Background: Repetitive sequences constitute the major portion of genomic DNA in most of the organisms and are responsible for variation in DNA structure, function, etc., These sequences also have the potential to adopt various noncanonical DNA structures. Methods: By using a swift, manual approach mirror repeats has been identified within the complete engrailed homeobox-1 gene (en-1) of X. tropicalis. Another tool Non- B DNA motif search was also deployed for comparative analysis. Results: A total of 166 mirror repeats were identified within the complete en-1 gene of X. tropicalis. The similar sequences were also searched among the genome of different organisms such as Xenopus laevis, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, etc., Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, it was novel identification of mirror repeats in the engrailed-1 gene of X. tropicalis. Few of these sequences may adopt various noncanonical B-DNA forms and are potent sites for mutation and recombination events.