Abstract
Background: Transposable elements (TEs), also known as jumping genes, are widely spread in the genomes of insects and play a considerable role in genomic evolution. Mariner family belongs to class II transposable elements, were searched in the genomes of seven species of Rhus gall aphids belonging to six genera. Mariner-like elements were characterized for the first time in Rhus gall aphids and classified in to respective subfamilies.Results: In total, one hundred twenty-one MLEs were detected in the genomes of the seven investigated species of Rhus gall aphids, which showed a wide distribution of MLEs in both close and distant related species. The sequences of MLEs ranged from 1kb to 1.4kb in length and the structural analysis of the MLEs showed that only five copies were potentially active with intact open reading frame (ORF) while the remaining were classified as inactive MLEs according to absence of single intact ORF or terminal inverted repeats (TIRs). Based on the MLEs in Rhus gall aphids as well as the well characterized MLEs in other organisms from GenBank, the phylogenetic analysis showed that all the one hundred twenty-one MLE sequences belonged to four subfamilies, i.e., thirty from Maurutiana subfamily, twenty-six from Drosophila subfamily, thirty-three from Vertumana subfamily and thirty-two from Irritans subfamily, among which Drosophila and Vertumana subfamilies were reported in aphids for the first time. Moreover, the phylogenetic relationship suggested possible horizontal transfer events of MLEs between aphids and other insects.Conclusion: Our present report revealed the diversity and distribution of MLEs in Rhus gall aphid genomes sequenced by shotgun genome skimming method. This study further expanded our understandings on the characterization of transposable elements in aphid genomes, which might be useful as genetic markers and tools and would play an important role in genomic evolution and adaptation of aphids.