scholarly journals Coevolution of the Telomeric Retrotransposons Across Drosophila Species

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 161 (3) ◽  
pp. 1113-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Casacuberta ◽  
Mary-Lou Pardue
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Nucleotide Sequence ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nucleotide Sequence Identity ◽  
Sequence Evolution ◽  
Repeated Dna ◽  
Repeated Dna Sequences ◽  
Sequence Identity ◽  
Species Complexes

AbstractAs in other eukaryotes, telomeres in Drosophila melanogaster are composed of long arrays of repeated DNA sequences. Remarkably, in D. melanogaster these repeats are produced, not by telomerase, but by successive transpositions of two telomere-specific retrotransposons, HeT-A and TART. These are the only transposable elements known to be completely dedicated to a role in chromosomes, a finding that provides an opportunity for investigating questions about the evolution of telomeres, telomerase, and the transposable elements themselves. Recent studies of D. yakuba revealed the presence of HeT-A elements with precisely the same unusual characteristics as HeT-Amel although they had only 55% nucleotide sequence identity. We now report that the second element, TART, is also a telomere component in D. yakuba; thus, these two elements have been evolving together since before the separation of the melanogaster and yakuba species complexes. Like HeT-Ayak, TART yak is undergoing concerted sequence evolution, yet they retain the unusual features TART mel shares with HeT-Amel. There are at least two subfamilies of TART yak with significantly different sequence and expression. Surprisingly, one subfamily of TART yak has >95% sequence identity with a subfamily of TART mel and shows similar transcription patterns. As in D. melanogaster, other retrotransposons are excluded from the D. yakuba terminal arrays studied to date.

scholarly journals Experimental evolution reveals hyperparasitic interactions among transposable elements

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (51) ◽  
pp. 14763-14768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Émilie Robillard ◽  
Arnaud Le Rouzic ◽  
Zheng Zhang ◽  
Pierre Capy ◽  
Aurélie Hua-Van
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Repeated Dna ◽  
Selfish Dna ◽  
Transposition Rate ◽  
Term Evolution ◽  
Major Interest

Transposable elements (TEs) are repeated DNA sequences that can constitute a substantial part of genomes. Studying TEs’ activity, interactions, and accumulation dynamics is thus of major interest to understand genome evolution. Here, we describe the transposition dynamics of cut-and-pastemarinerelements during experimental (short- and longer-term) evolution inDrosophila melanogaster. Flies with autonomous and nonautonomousmarinercopies were introduced in populations containing no activemariner, and TE accumulation was tracked by quantitative PCR for up to 100 generations. Our results demonstrate that (i) activemarinerelements are highly invasive and characterized by an elevated transposition rate, confirming their capacity to spread in populations, as predicted by the “selfish-DNA” mechanism; (ii) nonautonomous copies act as parasites of autonomousmarinerelements by hijacking the transposition machinery produced by activemariner, which can be considered as a case of hyperparasitism; (iii) this behavior resulted in a failure of active copies to amplify which systematically drove the whole family to extinction in less than 100 generations. This study nicely illustrates how the presence of transposition-competitive variants can deeply impair TE dynamics and gives clues to the extraordinary diversity of TE evolutionary histories observed in genomes.

The Organization of Highly Repeated DNA Sequences in Drosophila melanogaster Chromosomes

1974 ◽  
Vol 38 (0) ◽  
pp. 405-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Peacock ◽  
D. Brutlag ◽  
E. Goldring ◽  
R. Appels ◽  
C. W. Hinton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Repeated Dna ◽  
Repeated Dna Sequences ◽  
Highly Repeated Dna

scholarly journals Mapping simple repeated DNA sequences in heterochromatin of Drosophila melanogaster.

Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 1149-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Lohe ◽  
A J Hilliker ◽  
P A Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Repeated Sequences ◽  
Chromosome 2 ◽  
Repeated Dna ◽  
Mitotic Chromosomes ◽  
Satellite Dnas ◽  
Repeated Dna Sequences ◽  
Chromosome Map

Abstract Heterochromatin in Drosophila has unusual genetic, cytological and molecular properties. Highly repeated DNA sequences (satellites) are the principal component of heterochromatin. Using probes from cloned satellites, we have constructed a chromosome map of 10 highly repeated, simple DNA sequences in heterochromatin of mitotic chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. Despite extensive sequence homology among some satellites, chromosomal locations could be distinguished by stringent in situ hybridizations for each satellite. Only two of the localizations previously determined using gradient-purified bulk satellite probes are correct. Eight new satellite localizations are presented, providing a megabase-level chromosome map of one-quarter of the genome. Five major satellites each exhibit a multi-chromosome distribution, and five minor satellites hybridize to single sites on the Y chromosome. Satellites closely related in sequence are often located near one another on the same chromosome. About 80% of Y chromosome DNA is composed of nine simple repeated sequences, in particular (AAGAC)n (8 Mb), (AAGAG)n (7 Mb) and (AATAT)n (6 Mb). Similarly, more than 70% of the DNA in chromosome 2 heterochromatin is composed of five simple repeated sequences. We have also generated a high resolution map of satellites in chromosome 2 heterochromatin, using a series of translocation chromosomes whose breakpoints in heterochromatin were ordered by N-banding. Finally, staining and banding patterns of heterochromatic regions are correlated with the locations of specific repeated DNA sequences. The basis for the cytochemical heterogeneity in banding appears to depend exclusively on the different satellite DNAs present in heterochromatin.

Domain organization within repeated DNA sequences: application to the study of a family of transposable elements

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 1948-1954 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tempel ◽  
M. Giraud ◽  
D. Lavenier ◽  
I.-C. Lerman ◽  
A.-S. Valin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Repeated Dna ◽  
Repeated Dna Sequences ◽  
Domain Organization
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