scholarly journals What prevents transposable elements from taking over the genome? a commentary on ‘A test for the role of natural selection in the stabilization of transposable element copy number in a population of Drosophila melanogaster’ by Elizabeth Montgomery, Brian Charlesworth and Charles H. Langley

2007 ◽  
Vol 89 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 433-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
TRUDY F. C. MACKAY
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Transposable Element Copy

scholarly journals A test for the role of natural selection in the stabilization of transposable element copy number in a population of Drosophila melanogaster

1987 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Montgomery ◽  
Brian Charlesworth ◽  
Charles H. Langley
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Chromosomal Location ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
Simple Selection ◽  
Transposable Element Copy

SummaryThe numbers of members of three families of copia-like elements were counted on twenty X, 2nd and 3rd chromosomes collected from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. Theoretical predictions were computed for two models of copy number stabilization: (1) element frequencies are regulated by a simple genetic process such as copy number dependent transposition or excision, independent of chromosomal location; (2) elements are eliminated by natural selection against mutational effects of their insertion into the chromosome. Since insertions into the X can be expected to suffer more selection than autosomal insertions, due to expression of mutant phenotypes in the hemizygous state, hypothesis 2, called the disproportional model, predicts that the proportion of elements on the X will be smaller than the proportion of the genome contributed by the X, while hypothesis 1, called the equiproportional model, predicts that this proportionality will be unaffected. Two of the elements, 297 and roo, showed no evidence for deficiency of X-linked elements, but the data for a third element, 412, were consistent with the prediction based on the selective model.These results indicate that simple selection against mutational effects of insertions of transposable elements is not generally adequate to account for their distribution within populations. We argue that a mechanism such as recombination between elements at different chromosomal sites, leading to rearrangements with highly deleterious, dominant effects could play a role in stabilizing copy number. This process would lead to a higher abundance of elements in genomic regions with restricted crossing over. We present some data indicating such an effect, and discuss possible interpretations.

scholarly journals The transposable elements of the Drosophila serrata reference panel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Tiedeman ◽  
Sarah Signor
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Genetic Background ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Inbred Lines ◽  
Transposable Element Insertion ◽  
Defense Systems ◽  
Drosophila Serrata ◽  
Transposable Element Copy

AbstractTransposable elements are an important element of the complex genomic ecosystem, proving to be both adaptive and deleterious - repressed by the piRNA system and fixed by selection. Transposable element insertion also appears to be bursty – either due to invasion of new transposable elements that are not yet repressed, de-repression due to instability of organismal defense systems, stress, or genetic variation in hosts. Here, we characterize the transposable element landscape in an important model Drosophila, D. serrata, and investigate variation in transposable element copy number between genotypes and in the population at large. We find that a subset of transposable elements are clearly related to elements annotated in D. melanogaster and D. simulans, suggesting they spread between species more recently than other transposable elements. We also find that transposable elements do proliferate in particular genotypes, and that often if an individual is host to a proliferating transposable element, it is host to more than one proliferating transposable element. In addition, if a transposable element is active in a genotype, it is often active in more than one genotype. This suggests that there is an interaction between the host and the transposable element, such as a permissive genetic background and the presence of potentially active transposable element copies. In natural populations an active transposable element and a permissive background would not be held in association as in inbred lines, suggesting the magnitude of the burst would be much lower. Yet many of the inbred lines have actively proliferating transposable elements suggesting this is an important mechanism by which transposable elements maintain themselves in populations.

scholarly journals On the role of unequal exchange in the containment of transposable element copy number

1988 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Langley ◽  
Elizabeth Montgomery ◽  
Richard Hudson ◽  
Norman Kaplan ◽  
Brian Charlesworth
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Element ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Crossing Over ◽  
Relevant Parameter ◽  
Normal Crossing ◽  
Unequal Exchange ◽  
Parameter Ranges ◽  
Transposable Element Copy

SummaryA population genetics model of the role of asymmetric pairing and unequal exchange in the stabilization of transposable element copy number in natural populations is proposed and analysed. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the approximations incorporated into the analysis are robust in the relevant parameter ranges. Given several simple assumptions concerning transposition and excision, equal and unequal exchange, and chromosome structure, predictions of the relative numbers of transposable elements in various regions of the Drosophila melanogaster genome are compared to the observed distribution of roo/B104 elements across chromosomal regions with differing rates of exchange, and between X chromosomes and autosomes. There is no indication of an accumulation of elements in the distal regions of chromosomes, which is expected if unequal exchange is reduced concomitantly with normal crossing over in the distal regions. There is, however, an indication of an excess of elements relative to physical length in the proximal regions of the chromosomes, which also have restricted crossing over. This observation is qualitatively consistent with the model's predictions. The observed distribution of elements between the mid-sections of the X chromosomes and autosomes is consistent with the predictions of one of two models of unequal exchange.

scholarly journals The distribution of transposable elements on X chromosomes from a natural population of Drosophila simulans

1995 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Nuzhdin
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Natural Population ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Polytene Chromosomes ◽  
Distal Region ◽  
Drosophila Simulans ◽  
Chromosome Band ◽  
X Chromosomes

SummaryThe distribution of 13 transposable element families along 15 X chromosomes from an African natural population of Drosophila simulans was determined by in situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes. The transposable elements cloned from Drosophila melanogaster all hybridized with Drosophila simulans chromosomes. The number of copies per family was 3·5 times lower in the latter species and correlated with the copy number per family in Drosophila melanogaster. With the exception of 297, the copy number per chromosome followed a Poisson distribution. Element frequencies per chromosome band were generally low. However, several sites of the distal region and the base of the X chromosome had high frequencies of occupation. Elements had higher abundance at the base of the chromosome compared to distal regions. Overall, the distribution of transposable elements in Drosophila simulans is similar to that found in Drosophila melanogaster. These data provide evidence for the operation of a force (or forces) opposing transpositional increase in copy number, and that this force is weaker at the bases of chromosomes, consistent with the idea that recombination between elements at non-homologous sites contains TE copy number. The reduction in copy number of all TE families in Drosophila simulans compared to Drosophila melanogaster can be explained by stronger selection against transposable element multiplication and/or lower rates of transposition in Drosophila simulans.

scholarly journals Direct determination of retrotransposon transposition rates in Drosophila melanogaster

1994 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Nuzhdin ◽  
Trudy F. C. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Inbred Line ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Direct Determination ◽  
Hybridization Analysis ◽  
Spontaneous Mutations ◽  
Insertion Sites

SummaryRates of transposition and excision of the Drosophila melanogaster retrotransposon elements mdg3, 297, Doc, roo and copia were estimated directly, by in situ hybridization analysis of their cytological insertion sites in 31 replicates of a highly inbred line that had accumulated spontaneous mutations for approximately 160generations. Estimated transposition rates of Doc, roo and copia were, respectively, 4·2 × 10−5, 3·1 × 10−3 and 1·3 − 10−3; no transpositions of 297 nor mdg3 were observed. Rates of transposition of copia varied significantly among sublines. Excisions were only observed for roo elements, at a rate of 9·0 × 10−6 per element per generation. Copy number averaged over these element families increased 5·9 %; therefore, in these lines the magnitude of the forces opposing transposable element multiplication were weaker than transposition rates.

On the evolution and population genetics of hybrid-dysgenesis-causing transposable elements in Drosophila

1986 ◽  
Vol 312 (1154) ◽  
pp. 205-215 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Element Composition ◽  
Hybrid Dysgenesis ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Genetic Elements ◽  
Transposable Genetic Elements

Much has been learned about transposable genetic elements in Drosophila , but questions still remain, especially concerning their evolutionary significance. Three such questions are considered here, (i) Has the behaviour of transposable elements been most influenced by natural selection at the level of the organism, the population, or the elements themselves? (ii) How did the elements originate in the genome of the species? (iii) Why are laboratory stocks different from natural populations with respect to their transposable element composition? No final answers to these questions are yet available, but by focusing on the two families of hybrid dysgenesis-causing elements, the P and I factors, we can draw some tentative conclusions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document