A proposal for the reference-based annotation of de novo transposable element insertions

Understanding the causes and consequences of transposable element (TE) activity in the genomic era requires sophisticated bioinformatics approaches to accurately identify individual insertion sites. Next-generation sequencing technology now makes it possible to rapidly identify new TE insertions using resequencing data, opening up new possibilities to study the nature of TE-induced mutation and the target site preferences of different TE families. While the identification of new TE insertion sites is seemingly a simple task, the mechanisms of transposition present unique challenges for the annotation of de novo transposable element insertions mapped to a reference genome. Here I discuss these challenges and propose a framework for the annotation of de novo TE insertions that accommodates known mechanisms of TE insertion and established coordinate systems for genome annotation.