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DEFINITION. “Transposable elements (TEs) are segments of DNA able to move from one locus to another in a given genome and to replicate themselves in the process.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959437X17301685 View in LinkedIn

GENE SHUFFLING. “It has long been known that genes change their chromosome locations, and it has been speculated that transposons mobilize large DNA segments because they are often found at the ends of inverted or transposed sequence.” https://lnkd.in/dPjYT-k View in LinkedIn

MOBILE GENES. “A transposable element (TE or transposon) is a DNA sequence that can change its position within a genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations and altering the cell's genetic identity and genome size. Transposition often results in duplication of the same genetic material. Barbara McClintock's discovery of these jumping genes earned her a Nobel Prize in 1983.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element View in LinkedIn

SHAPING EVOLUTION. “Our discovery highlights that TEs contribute to shape genome evolution of pandoraviruses. We concluded that as for cellular organisms, TEs are part of the pandoraviruses’ diverse mobilome.” (TE = transposable elements, jumping genes). https://mobilednajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13100-018-0125-4 View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE ROLE IN EVOLUTION. “MITEs are often flanked by terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and produce a short target site duplication (TSD) upon integration. As a group, MITEs form several superfamilies classified according to sequence similarity between their TIRs or TSD and those of autonomous partners. It has been shown that MITEs play important roles in eukaryotic evolution, including an increase in genome size, formation of new genes, and the regulation of gene expression.” (MITEs = miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements); (TIR = terminal inverted repeats); (TSD = target site duplication). https://mobilednajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13100-018-0125-4 View in LinkedIn

AUTONOMOUS JUMPING GENES. “DNA transposons represent a specific group of TEs, and they can be classified as either “autonomous” or “non-autonomous” elements. Autonomous transposons can transpose by themselves, while non-autonomous elements require enzymes encoded in trans by autonomous elements to be mobile.” (TE = transposable elements, jumping genes). https://lnkd.in/dxjKEGX View in LinkedIn

VIRAL FOSSILS. “Much of the human genome is repetitive sequence derived from transposable elements. These include copy-and-paste retrotransposons and cut-and-paste DNA transposons. Only retrotransposons are active as undomesticated mobile DNAs in humans.” https://lnkd.in/df3hrCx View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE VIRAL FOOTPRINT. “TEs constitute more than half of the DNA in many higher eukaryotes. We know, too, that the fingerprints of TEs and transposition are everywhere in their genomes, from the coarsest features of genomic landscapes and how they change through real and evolutionary time to the finest details of gene structure and regulation.” (TE = transposable elements, jumping genes). http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6108/758 View in LinkedIn

THE DRUNKARD’S WALK. “The late Stephen J. Gould strongly cautioned against the temptation to ascribe any overall directionality to biological evolution. In a famous metaphor he compared the evolution of a species in complexity space to the random walk of a drunkard who starts out leaning against a wall, but whose movement towards the gutter is unrestricted.” https://lnkd.in/euEN3Eh View in LinkedIn

PROMISCUOUS GENE SHUFFLING. “TEs can contain many types of genes, including those conferring antibiotic resistance and ability to transpose to conjugative plasmids. Some TEs also contain integrons, genetic elements that can capture and express genes from other sources. These contain integrase, which can integrate gene cassettes. There are over 40 antibiotic resistance genes identified on cassettes, as well as virulence genes.” (TE = transposable elements, jumping genes). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element View in LinkedIn