Transposable elements drive rapid phenotypic variation in Capsella rubella.

ABSTRACT: Rapid phenotypic changes in traits of adaptive significance are crucial for organisms to thrive in changing environments. How such phenotypic variation is achieved rapidly, despite limited genetic variation in species that experience a genetic bottleneck is unknown. Capsella rubella, an annual and inbreeding forb (Brassicaceae), is a great system for studying this basic question. Its distribution is wider than those of its congeneric species, despite an extreme genetic bottleneck event that severely diminished its genetic variation. Here, we demonstrate that transposable elements (TEs) are an important source of genetic variation that could account for its high phenotypic diversity. TEs are (i) highly enriched in C. rubella compared with its outcrossing sister species

SUBMITTER: Niu XM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6452725 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature