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Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns
Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous genetic elements, able to jump from one location of the genome to another, in all organisms. For this reason, on the one hand, TEs can induce deleterious mutations, causing dysfunction, disease and even lethality in individuals. On the other hand, TEs can i...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8947103/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35326499 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11061048 |
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author | Colonna Romano, Nunzia Fanti, Laura |
author_facet | Colonna Romano, Nunzia Fanti, Laura |
author_sort | Colonna Romano, Nunzia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous genetic elements, able to jump from one location of the genome to another, in all organisms. For this reason, on the one hand, TEs can induce deleterious mutations, causing dysfunction, disease and even lethality in individuals. On the other hand, TEs can increase genetic variability, making populations better equipped to respond adaptively to environmental change. To counteract the deleterious effects of TEs, organisms have evolved strategies to avoid their activation. However, their mobilization does occur. Usually, TEs are maintained silent through several mechanisms, but they can be reactivated during certain developmental windows. Moreover, TEs can become de-repressed because of drastic changes in the external environment. Here, we describe the ‘double life’ of TEs, being both ‘parasites’ and ‘symbionts’ of the genome. We also argue that the transposition of TEs contributes to two important evolutionary processes: the temporal dynamic of evolution and the induction of genetic variability. Finally, we discuss how the interplay between two TE-dependent phenomena, insertional mutagenesis and epigenetic plasticity, plays a role in the process of evolution. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8947103 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-89471032022-03-25 Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns Colonna Romano, Nunzia Fanti, Laura Cells Review Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous genetic elements, able to jump from one location of the genome to another, in all organisms. For this reason, on the one hand, TEs can induce deleterious mutations, causing dysfunction, disease and even lethality in individuals. On the other hand, TEs can increase genetic variability, making populations better equipped to respond adaptively to environmental change. To counteract the deleterious effects of TEs, organisms have evolved strategies to avoid their activation. However, their mobilization does occur. Usually, TEs are maintained silent through several mechanisms, but they can be reactivated during certain developmental windows. Moreover, TEs can become de-repressed because of drastic changes in the external environment. Here, we describe the ‘double life’ of TEs, being both ‘parasites’ and ‘symbionts’ of the genome. We also argue that the transposition of TEs contributes to two important evolutionary processes: the temporal dynamic of evolution and the induction of genetic variability. Finally, we discuss how the interplay between two TE-dependent phenomena, insertional mutagenesis and epigenetic plasticity, plays a role in the process of evolution. MDPI 2022-03-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8947103/ /pubmed/35326499 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11061048 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Colonna Romano, Nunzia Fanti, Laura Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title | Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title_full | Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title_fullStr | Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title_full_unstemmed | Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title_short | Transposable Elements: Major Players in Shaping Genomic and Evolutionary Patterns |
title_sort | transposable elements: major players in shaping genomic and evolutionary patterns |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8947103/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35326499 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11061048 |
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