Genomes of historical specimens reveal multiple invasions of LTR retrotransposons in Drosophila melanogaster during the 19th century.

ABSTRACT: Transposable element invasions have a profound impact on the evolution of genomes and phenotypes. It is thus an important open question how often such TE invasions occur. To address this question, we utilize the genomes of historical specimens, sampled about 200 y ago. We found that the LTR retrotransposons Blood, Opus, and 412 spread in Drosophila melanogaster in the 19th century. These invasions constitute second waves, as degraded fragments were found for all three TEs. The composition of Opus and 412, but not of Blood, shows a pronounced geographic heterogeneity, likely due to founder effects during the invasions. Finally, we identified species from the Drosophila simulans complex as the likely origin of the TEs. We show that in total, seven TE families invaded D. mela

SUBMITTER: Scarpa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11009621 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature