Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.

During the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between 1950 and 1980. Here we describe a novel TE, which we named Spoink, that has invaded D. melanogaster. It is a 5216nt LTR retrotrans...

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Main Authors: Riccardo Pianezza, Almorò Scarpa, Prakash Narayanan, Sarah Signor, Robert Kofler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-03-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1011201&type=printable
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author Riccardo Pianezza
Almorò Scarpa
Prakash Narayanan
Sarah Signor
Robert Kofler
author_facet Riccardo Pianezza
Almorò Scarpa
Prakash Narayanan
Sarah Signor
Robert Kofler
author_sort Riccardo Pianezza
collection DOAJ
description During the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between 1950 and 1980. Here we describe a novel TE, which we named Spoink, that has invaded D. melanogaster. It is a 5216nt LTR retrotransposon of the Ty3/gypsy superfamily. Relying on strains sampled at different times during the last century we show that Spoink invaded worldwide D. melanogaster populations after the P-element between 1983 and 1993. This invasion was likely triggered by a horizontal transfer from the D. willistoni group, much as the P-element. Spoink is probably silenced by the piRNA pathway in natural populations and about 1/3 of the examined strains have an insertion into a canonical piRNA cluster such as 42AB. Given the degree of genetic investigation of D. melanogaster it is perhaps surprising that Spoink was able to invade unnoticed.
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id doaj-art-1b4bd7157aa44143b56fdeda20e6e087
institution Kabale University
issn 1553-7390
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language English
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Genetics
spelling doaj-art-1b4bd7157aa44143b56fdeda20e6e0872024-11-14T05:31:17ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042024-03-01203e101120110.1371/journal.pgen.1011201Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.Riccardo PianezzaAlmorò ScarpaPrakash NarayananSarah SignorRobert KoflerDuring the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between 1950 and 1980. Here we describe a novel TE, which we named Spoink, that has invaded D. melanogaster. It is a 5216nt LTR retrotransposon of the Ty3/gypsy superfamily. Relying on strains sampled at different times during the last century we show that Spoink invaded worldwide D. melanogaster populations after the P-element between 1983 and 1993. This invasion was likely triggered by a horizontal transfer from the D. willistoni group, much as the P-element. Spoink is probably silenced by the piRNA pathway in natural populations and about 1/3 of the examined strains have an insertion into a canonical piRNA cluster such as 42AB. Given the degree of genetic investigation of D. melanogaster it is perhaps surprising that Spoink was able to invade unnoticed.https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1011201&type=printable
spellingShingle Riccardo Pianezza
Almorò Scarpa
Prakash Narayanan
Sarah Signor
Robert Kofler
Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
PLoS Genetics
title Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
title_full Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
title_fullStr Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
title_full_unstemmed Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
title_short Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s.
title_sort spoink a ltr retrotransposon invaded d melanogaster populations in the 1990s
url https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1011201&type=printable
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AT sarahsignor spoinkaltrretrotransposoninvadeddmelanogasterpopulationsinthe1990s
AT robertkofler spoinkaltrretrotransposoninvadeddmelanogasterpopulationsinthe1990s