Large-scale genomic analysis suggests a neutral punctuated dynamics of transposable elements in bacterial genomes.

ABSTRACT: Insertion sequences (IS) are the simplest and most abundant form of transposable DNA found in bacterial genomes. When present in multiple copies, it is thought that they can promote genomic plasticity and genetic exchange, thus being a major force of evolutionary change. The main processes that determine IS content in genomes are, though, a matter of debate. In this work, we take advantage of the large amount of genomic data currently available and study the abundance distributions of 33 IS families in 1811 bacterial chromosomes. This allows us to test simple models of IS dynamics and estimate their key parameters by means of a maximum likelihood approach. We evaluate the roles played by duplication, lateral gene transfer, deletion and purifying selection. We find that the observed IS abun

SUBMITTER: Iranzo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4072520 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature