Long-term experimental evolution reveals purifying selection on piRNA-mediated control of transposable element expression.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Transposable elements (TEs) are an almost universal constituent of eukaryotic genomes. In animals, Piwi-interacting small RNAs (piRNAs) and repressive chromatin often play crucial roles in preventing TE transcription and thus restricting TE activity. Nevertheless, TE content varies widely across eukaryotes and the dynamics of TE activity and TE silencing across evolutionary time is poorly understood.

Results

Here, we used experimentally evolved populations of C. elegans to study the dynamics of TE expression over 409 generations. The experimental populations were evolved at population sizes of 1, 10 and 100 individuals to manipulate the efficiency of natural selection versus genetic drift. We demonstrate increased TE expression relative to the ancestral population

SUBMITTER: Bergthorsson U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7646084 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature