Evolutionary Dynamics of Transposable Element Activity and Regulation in the Apennine Yellow-Bellied Toad (Bombina pachypus).

ABSTRACT: Transposable elements (TEs) expansion and accumulation represent one of the main drivers of genomic gigantism. Different host genome silencing mechanisms have evolved to counteract TE amplification, leading to a genomic arms race between them. Nevertheless, the evolutionary relationship between TEs and host genome silencing pathways remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the activity of TEs and TE-silencing mechanisms in somatic and germline tissues of Bombina pachypus, a 10 Gb anuran genome. Our findings reveal a higher activity of TEs in the gonads compared to the brain, with retrotransposons as the most active class in both gonads (∼15% increased expression compared to the brain) and DNA transposons showing a 2-fold higher activity in ovaries. However, analysis of differentiall

SUBMITTER: Ancona L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12008745 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature