Recent reactivation of a pathogenicity-associated transposable element is associated with major chromosomal rearrangements in a fungal wheat pathogen.

ABSTRACT: Transposable elements (TEs) are key drivers of genomic variation contributing to recent adaptation in most species. Yet, the evolutionary origins and insertion dynamics within species remain poorly understood. We recapitulate the spread of the pathogenicity-associated Styx element across five species that last diverged ∼11 000 years ago. We show that the element likely originated in the Zymoseptoria fungal pathogen genus and underwent multiple independent reactivation events. Using a global 900-genome panel of the wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici, we assess Styx copy number variation and identify renewed transposition activity in Oceania and South America. We show that the element can mobilize to create additional Styx copies in a four-generation pedigree. Importantly, we find that new

SUBMITTER: Badet T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10853768 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature