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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

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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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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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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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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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Phylogenetic Trees03:21

Phylogenetic Trees

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Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 12, 2026

Real-Time Quantification of the Effects of IS200/IS605 Family-Associated TnpB on Transposon Activity
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Robust termite phylogenies built using transposable element composition and insertion events.

Cong Liu1, Simon Hellemans1, Yi-Ming Weng1

  • 1Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son 904-0495, Okinawa, Japan.

Current Biology : CB
|November 6, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Transposable elements (TEs) offer new phylogenetic information. Analyzing TE presence/absence in genomes and near ultraconserved elements (UCEs) accurately reconstructs evolutionary trees, resolving contentious nodes.

Keywords:
Isopteracomparative genomicsgenome evolutioninsectsmitogenomesmolecular markersphylogenomicstransposons

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Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Bioinformatics

Background:

  • Phylogenetic trees traditionally rely on conserved sequence alignments.
  • Transposable elements (TEs) constitute a significant portion of eukaryotic genomes but are often overlooked in phylogenetic analyses.
  • TEs may harbor valuable phylogenetic information for resolving evolutionary relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the utility of transposable elements (TEs) as markers for phylogenetic reconstruction.
  • To assess the accuracy of phylogenetic trees built using TE-derived characters compared to traditional methods.
  • To explore the potential of TEs in resolving contentious nodes in evolutionary trees.

Main Methods:

  • Reconstructed phylogenetic trees for termites and cockroaches using genome-wide TE family presence/absence data.
  • Utilized TE family presence/absence data in flanking regions of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) as a proxy for TE insertions.
  • Compared TE-based phylogenies with trees inferred from UCE alignments and single-copy orthologous genes.

Main Results:

  • TE-based phylogenetic trees showed high congruence with trees from UCEs and single-copy orthologous genes.
  • Genome-wide TE composition yielded more accurate trees than mitochondrial genome alignments.
  • TE composition near UCEs achieved accuracy comparable to single-copy orthologous gene alignments.

Conclusions:

  • The transposable element (TE) landscape is a rich source of phylogenetically informative characters.
  • TEs provide an additional marker set for robust phylogenetic reconstructions.
  • TE analysis holds potential for resolving ambiguous nodes in the broader tree of life.