Close ecological relationship among species facilitated horizontal transfer of retrotransposons.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Horizontal transfer (HT) of genetic materials is increasingly being found in both animals and plants and mainly concerns transposable elements (TEs). Many crustaceans have big genome sizes and are thus likely to harbor high TE contents. Their habitat might offer them ample opportunities to exchange genetic materials with organisms that are ecologically close but taxonomically distant to them.

Results

In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), an important economic crustacean, to explore traces of HT events. From a collection of newly assembled transcripts, we identified 395 high reliable TE transcripts, most of which were retrotransposon transcripts. One hundred fifty-seven of those transcripts showed highest simil

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5055719 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature