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Related Concept Videos

Overview of Transposition and Recombination02:13

Overview of Transposition and Recombination

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Transposons make up a significant part of genomes of various organisms. Therefore, it is believed that transposition played a major evolutionary role in speciation by changing genome sizes and modifying gene expression patterns. For example, in bacteria, transposition can lead to conferring antibiotic resistance. Movement of transposable elements within the genetic pool of pathogenic bacteria can aid in transfer of antibiotic-resistant genetic elements. In eukaryotes, transposons can carry out...
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DNA-only Transposons02:57

DNA-only Transposons

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DNA-only transposons are called autonomous transposons since they code for the enzyme transposase that is required for the transposition mechanism. Insertion of transposons can alter gene functions in multiple ways. They can mutate the gene, alter gene expression by introducing a novel promoter or insulator sequence, introduce new splice sites, and change the mRNA transcripts produced, or remodel chromatin structure.
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
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Transposons01:24

Transposons

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Transposons, or "jumping genes," are small mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that range from 700 to 40,000 base pairs in length. They are found in all organisms and can move within the same chromosome or transfer to different chromosomes. In some cases, transposons can also jump between different host DNA molecules, such as plasmids or viruses, contributing to genetic variability.Barbara McClintock first discovered these mobile genetic elements in the 1940s while studying maize genetics, and she...
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LTR Retrotransposons03:08

LTR Retrotransposons

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LTR retrotransposons are class I transposable elements with long terminal repeats flanking an internal coding region. These elements are less abundant in mammals compared to other class I transposable elements. About 8 percent of human genomic DNA comprises LTR retrotransposons. Some of the common examples of LTR retrotransposons are Ty elements in yeast and Copia elements in Drosophila.
The internal coding region of LTR retrotransposons and their mechanism of transposition closely resembles a...
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Non-LTR Retrotransposons03:18

Non-LTR Retrotransposons

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As the name suggests, non-LTR retrotransposons lack the long terminal repeats characteristic of the LTR retrotransposons. Additionally, both LTR and non-LTR retrotransposons use distinct mechanisms of mobilization. Non-LTR retrotransposons are further divided into two classes - Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs), both of which occur abundantly in most mammals, including humans. Some of the active non-LTR retrotransposons in humans are L1...
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Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

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The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Real-Time Quantification of the Effects of IS200/IS605 Family-Associated TnpB on Transposon Activity
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Transposable elements promote the evolution of genome streamlining.

Bram van Dijk1, Frederic Bertels1, Lianne Stolk2

  • 1Department of Microbial Population Biology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|November 29, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Transposable elements (TEs) can drive genome streamlining in asexual microbes through unique rock-paper-scissors dynamics. This evolutionary process improves lineage survival by limiting TEs, but is absent in sexual populations.

Keywords:
altruismhorizontal gene transferlineage selectionnon-transitive interactionssexspatial structure

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Determination of the Optimal Chromosomal Locations for a DNA Element in Escherichia coli Using a Novel Transposon-mediated Approach
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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genomics
  • Microbial genetics

Background:

  • Prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes differ significantly in size, coding DNA ratio, and transposable element (TE) abundance.
  • TE proliferation is hypothesized to cause genome expansion in eukaryotes, but the reason for small prokaryotic genomes remains unclear despite their TEs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how transposable elements influence genome architecture evolution in prokaryotes.
  • To explain the mechanism behind genome streamlining in asexual organisms coevolving with TEs.

Main Methods:

  • Development of an in silico model simulating asexual organisms and transposable elements.
  • Analysis of co-evolutionary dynamics, including horizontal gene transfer and local interactions.
  • Modeling of rock-paper-scissors dynamics between cells and TEs.

Main Results:

  • Acquired transposable elements can drive genome streamlining in asexual populations.
  • Genome streamlining evolves as a lineage-level adaptation to control TE proliferation, despite being individually costly.
  • Rock-paper-scissors dynamics underpin the cyclical interactions promoting streamlining.
  • Streamlining is not observed in sexually reproducing populations due to recombination's effect on TEs.

Conclusions:

  • Horizontal gene transfer of TEs can paradoxically lead to genome streamlining in asexual microbes.
  • The evolutionary dynamics of TEs play a crucial role in shaping prokaryotic genome architecture.
  • Understanding these dynamics is key to explaining genome size differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.