Discovery of highly divergent repeat landscapes in snake genomes using high-throughput sequencing.

ABSTRACT: We conducted a comprehensive assessment of genomic repeat content in two snake genomes, the venomous copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus). These two genomes are both relatively small (∼1.4 Gb) but have surprisingly extensive differences in the abundance and expansion histories of their repeat elements. In the python, the readily identifiable repeat element content is low (21%), similar to bird genomes, whereas that of the copperhead is higher (45%), similar to mammalian genomes. The copperhead's greater repeat content arises from the recent expansion of many different microsatellites and transposable element (TE) families, and the copperhead had 23-fold greater levels of TE-related transcripts than the python. This suggests the possibility

SUBMITTER: Castoe TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3157835 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature