Dynamic evolution of transposable elements, demographic history, and gene content of paleognathous birds.

ABSTRACT: Palaeognathae includes ratite and tinamou species that are important for understanding early avian evolution. Here, we analyzed the whole-genome sequences of 15 paleognathous species to infer their demographic histories, which are presently unknown. We found that most species showed a reduction of population size since the beginning of the last glacial period, except for those species distributed in Australasia and in the far south of South America. Different degrees of contraction and expansion of transposable elements (TE) have shaped the paleognathous genome architecture, with a higher transposon removal rate in tinamous than in ratites. One repeat family, AviRTE, likely underwent horizontal transfer from tropical parasites to the ancestor of little and undulated tinamous about 30 milli

SUBMITTER: Wang ZJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7840455 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature