biostudies-literatureSimoni SDepartment of Agriculture, Food, and Environment of the University of Pisa, Italy,6220https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9181549biostudies-literatureUnknown23(11)<i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> is one of the most important crops belonging to the Asteraceae family. Stevia is cultivated all over the world as it represents a valid natural alternative to artificial sweeteners thanks to its leaves, which produce steviol glycosides that have high sweetening power and reduced caloric value. In this work, the stevia genome sequence was used to isolate and characterise full-length long-terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-REs), which account for more than half of the genome. The <i>Gypsy</i> retrotransposons were twice as abundant as the <i>Copia</i> ones. A disproportionate abundance of elements belonging to the <i>Chromovirus/Tekay</i> lineage was observed among the <i>Gypsy</i> elements. Only the <i>SIRE</i> and <i>Angela</i> lineages represented significant pInternational journal of molecular sciencesCharacterisation of LTR-Retrotransposons of <i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> and Their Use for the Analysis of Genetic Variability.PMC9181549PlantomicsVangelisti AMascagni FUsai GAngelini LGGiordani TSimoni SNatali LTavarini SClemente CCavallini AfalseCharacterisation of LTR-Retrotransposons of <i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> and Their Use for the Analysis of Genetic Variability.<i>Stevia rebaudiana</i> is one of the most important crops belonging to the Asteraceae family. Stevia is cultivated all over the world as it represents a valid natural alternative to artificial sweeteners thanks to its leaves, which produce steviol glycosides that have high sweetening power and reduced caloric value. In this work, the stevia genome sequence was used to isolate and characterise full-length long-terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-REs), which account for more than half of the genome. The <i>Gypsy</i> retrotransposons were twice as abundant as the <i>Copia</i> ones. A disproportionate abundance of elements belonging to the <i>Chromovirus/Tekay</i> lineage was observed among the <i>Gypsy</i> elements. Only the <i>SIRE</i> and <i>Angela</i> lineages represented significant p2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Jun2025-04-05T15:01:50.312Z2025-02-19T02:44:11.867ZS-EPMC91815493568289910.3390/ijms23116220