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Updated: Apr 24, 2026

Real-Time Quantification of the Effects of IS200/IS605 Family-Associated TnpB on Transposon Activity
Published on: January 20, 2023
Insights on genome size evolution from a miniature inverted repeat transposon driving a satellite DNA
Thibault Scalvenzi1, Nicolas Pollet1
1Institute of Systems and Synthetic Biology, CNRS, Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne, Bâtiment 3, Genopole® campus 3, 1, rue Pierre Fontaine, F-91058 Evry, France.
Abstract:
The genome size in eukaryotes does not correlate well with the number of genes they contain. We can observe this so-called C-value paradox in amphibian species. By analyzing an amphibian genome we asked how repetitive DNA can impact genome size and architecture. We describe here our discovery of a Tc1/mariner miniature inverted-repeat transposon family present in Xenopus frogs. These transposons named miDNA4 are unique since they contain a satellite DNA motif. We found that miDNA4 measured 331 bp, contained 25 bp long inverted terminal repeat sequences and a sequence motif of 119 bp present as a unique copy or as an array of 2-47 copies. We characterized the structure, dynamics, impact and evolution of the miDNA4 family and its satellite DNA in Xenopus frog genomes. This led us to propose a model for the evolution of these two repeated sequences and how they can synergize to increase genome size.
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