Experimentally heat-induced transposition increases drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic genomes contain a vast diversity of transposable elements (TEs). Formerly often described as selfish and parasitic DNA sequences, TEs are now recognised as a source of genetic diversity and powerful drivers of evolution. However, because their mobility is tightly controlled by the host, studies experimentally assessing how fast TEs may mediate the emergence of adaptive traits are scarce. We exposed Arabidopsis thaliana high-copy TE lines (hcLines) with up to c. eight-fold increased copy numbers of the heat-responsive ONSEN TE to drought as a straightforward and ecologically highly relevant selection pressure. We provide evidence for increased drought tolerance in five out of the 23 tested hcLines and further pinpoint one of the causative mutations to an exonic insertion of ONSEN

SUBMITTER: Thieme M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9544478 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature