The Role of Small RNA-Based Epigenetic Silencing for Purifying Selection on Transposable Elements in Capsella grandiflora.

ABSTRACT: To avoid negative effects of transposable element (TE) proliferation, plants epigenetically silence TEs using a number of mechanisms, including RNA-directed DNA methylation. These epigenetic modifications can extend outside the boundaries of TE insertions and lead to silencing of nearby genes, resulting in a trade-off between TE silencing and interference with nearby gene regulation. Therefore, purifying selection is expected to remove silenced TE insertions near genes more efficiently and prevent their accumulation within a population. To explore how effects of TE silencing on gene regulation shapes purifying selection on TEs, we analyzed whole genome sequencing data from 166 individuals of a large population of the outcrossing species Capsella grandiflora. We found that most TEs are rare

SUBMITTER: Horvath R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5737465 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature