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Zhang T, Tan S, Tang N, Li Y, Zhang C, Sun J, Guo Y, Gao H, Cai Y, Sun W, Wang C, Fu L, Ma H, Wu Y, Hu X, Zhang X, Gee P, Yan W, Zhao Y, Chen Q, Guo B, Wang H, Zhang YE. Heterologous survey of 130 DNA transposons in human cells highlights their functional divergence and expands the genome engineering toolbox. Cell 2024; 187:3741-3760.e30. [PMID: 38843831 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024]
Abstract
Experimental studies on DNA transposable elements (TEs) have been limited in scale, leading to a lack of understanding of the factors influencing transposition activity, evolutionary dynamics, and application potential as genome engineering tools. We predicted 130 active DNA TEs from 102 metazoan genomes and evaluated their activity in human cells. We identified 40 active (integration-competent) TEs, surpassing the cumulative number (20) of TEs found previously. With this unified comparative data, we found that the Tc1/mariner superfamily exhibits elevated activity, potentially explaining their pervasive horizontal transfers. Further functional characterization of TEs revealed additional divergence in features such as insertion bias. Remarkably, in CAR-T therapy for hematological and solid tumors, Mariner2_AG (MAG), the most active DNA TE identified, largely outperformed two widely used vectors, the lentiviral vector and the TE-based vector SB100X. Overall, this study highlights the varied transposition features and evolutionary dynamics of DNA TEs and increases the TE toolbox diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tongtong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Shengjun Tan
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Na Tang
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yuanqing Li
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Chenze Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Efficacy and Mechanism on Chinese Medicine for Metabolic Diseases, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Jing Sun
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yanyan Guo
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Hui Gao
- Rengene Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100036, China
| | - Yujia Cai
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Wen Sun
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Chenxin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Liangzheng Fu
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Huijing Ma
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yachao Wu
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Hu
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xuechun Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Peter Gee
- MaxCyte Inc., Rockville, MD 20850, USA
| | - Weihua Yan
- Cold Spring Biotech Corp., Beijing 100031, China
| | - Yahui Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Qiang Chen
- Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Baocheng Guo
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China
| | - Haoyi Wang
- Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Yong E Zhang
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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Shi S, Puzakov MV, Puzakova LV, Ulupova YN, Xiang K, Wang B, Gao B, Song C. Hiker, a new family of DNA transposons encoding transposases with DD35E motifs, displays a distinct phylogenetic relationship with most known DNA transposon families of IS630-Tc1-mariner (ITm). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2023; 188:107906. [PMID: 37586577 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
DNA transposons play a crucial role in determining the size and structure of eukaryotic genomes. In this study, a new family of IS630-Tc1-mariner (ITm) DNA transposons, named Hiker (HK), was identified. HK is characterized by a DD35E catalytic domain and is distinct from all previously known families of the ITm group. Phylogenetic analyses showed that DD35E/Hiker forms a monophyletic clade with DD34E/Gambol, indicating that they may represent a separate superfamily of ITm. A total of 178 Hiker species were identified, with 170 found mainly in Actinopterygii, one in Chondrichthyes, six in Anura and one in Mollusca. Gambol (GM), on the other hand, are found in invertebrates, with 18 in Arthropoda and one in Platyhelminthes. Hiker transposons have a total length ranging from 2.14 to 3.67 kb and contain a single open reading frame that encodes a protein of approximately 370 amino acids (range 311-413 aa). They are flanked by short terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) of 16-30 base pairs and two base pair (TA) target-site duplications. In contrast, most transposons of the Gambol family have a total length of 1.35-5.96 kb, encode a transposase protein of approximately 350 amino acids (range 306-374 aa), and are flanked by TIRs that range from 32 to 1097 bp in length. Both Hiker and Gambol transposases have several conserved motifs, including helix-turn-helix (HTH) motifs and a DDE domain. Our study observed multiple amplification waves and repeated horizontal transfer (HT) events of HK transposons in vertebrate genomes, indicating their role in diversifying and shaping the genomes of Actinopterygii, Chondrichthyes, and Anura. Conversely, GM transposons showed few Horizontal transfer events. According to cell-based transposition assays, most HK transposons are likely inactive due to the truncated DNA binding domains of their transposases. We present an updated classification of the ITm group based on these findings, which will enhance the understanding of both the evolution of ITm transposons and that of their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shasha Shi
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China
| | - Mikhail V Puzakov
- A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Lenninsky ave, 38 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ludmila V Puzakova
- A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Lenninsky ave, 38 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Yulia N Ulupova
- A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Lenninsky ave, 38 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Kuilin Xiang
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China
| | - Binqing Wang
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China
| | - Bo Gao
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China
| | - Chengyi Song
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China.
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Palazzo A, Caizzi R, Moschetti R, Marsano RM. What Have We Learned in 30 Years of Investigations on Bari Transposons? Cells 2022; 11:583. [PMID: 35159391 PMCID: PMC8834629 DOI: 10.3390/cells11030583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Transposable elements (TEs) have been historically depicted as detrimental genetic entities that selfishly aim at perpetuating themselves, invading genomes, and destroying genes. Scientists often co-opt "special" TEs to develop new and powerful genetic tools, that will hopefully aid in changing the future of the human being. However, many TEs are gentle, rarely unleash themselves to harm the genome, and bashfully contribute to generating diversity and novelty in the genomes they have colonized, yet they offer the opportunity to develop new molecular tools. In this review we summarize 30 years of research focused on the Bari transposons. Bari is a "normal" transposon family that has colonized the genomes of several Drosophila species and introduced genomic novelties in the melanogaster species. We discuss how these results have contributed to advance the field of TE research and what future studies can still add to the current knowledge.
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Palazzo A, Lorusso P, Miskey C, Walisko O, Gerbino A, Marobbio CMT, Ivics Z, Marsano RM. Transcriptionally promiscuous "blurry" promoters in Tc1/ mariner transposons allow transcription in distantly related genomes. Mob DNA 2019; 10:13. [PMID: 30988701 PMCID: PMC6446368 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-019-0155-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background We have recently described a peculiar feature of the promoters in two Drosophila Tc1-like elements, Bari1 and Bari3. The AT-richness and the presence of weak core-promoter motifs make these promoters, that we have defined “blurry”, able to activate transcription of a reporter gene in cellular systems as diverse as fly, human, yeast and bacteria. In order to clarify whether the blurry promoter is a specific feature of the Bari transposon family, we have extended this study to promoters isolated from three additional DNA transposon and from two additional LTR retrotransposons. Results Here we show that the blurry promoter is also a feature of two vertebrate transposable elements, Sleeping Beauty and Hsmar1, belonging to the Tc1/mariner superfamily. In contrast, this feature is not shared by the promoter of the hobo transposon, which belongs to the hAT superfamily, nor by LTR retrotransposon-derived promoters, which, in general, do not activate transcription when introduced into non-related genomes. Conclusions Our results suggest that the blurry promoter could be a shared feature of the members of the Tc1/mariner superfamily with possible evolutionary and biotechnological implications. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13100-019-0155-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Palazzo
- 1Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.,Present address: Laboratory of Translational Nanotechnology, "Istituto Tumori Giovanni Paolo II" I.R.C.C.S, Viale Orazio Flacco 65, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Patrizio Lorusso
- 1Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Csaba Miskey
- 2Transposition and Genome Engineering, Division of Medical Biotechnology, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany
| | - Oliver Walisko
- 2Transposition and Genome Engineering, Division of Medical Biotechnology, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany
| | - Andrea Gerbino
- 3Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | | | - Zoltán Ivics
- 2Transposition and Genome Engineering, Division of Medical Biotechnology, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany
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Palazzo A, Caizzi R, Viggiano L, Marsano RM. Does the Promoter Constitute a Barrier in the Horizontal Transposon Transfer Process? Insight from Bari Transposons. Genome Biol Evol 2018; 9:1637-1645. [PMID: 28854630 PMCID: PMC5570127 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The contribution of the transposons’ promoter in the horizontal transfer process is quite overlooked in the scientific literature. To shed light on this aspect we have mimicked the horizontal transfer process in laboratory and assayed in a wide range of hosts (fly, human, yeast and bacteria) the promoter activity of the 5′ terminal sequences in Bari1 and Bari3, two Drosophila transposons belonging to the Tc1-mariner superfamily. These sequences are able to drive the transcription of a reporter gene even in distantly related organisms at least at the episomal level. By combining bioinformatics and experimental approaches, we define two distinct promoter sequences for each terminal sequence analyzed, which allow transcriptional activity in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, respectively. We propose that the Bari family of transposons, and possibly other members of the Tc1-mariner superfamily, might have evolved “blurry promoters,” which have facilitated their diffusion in many living organisms through horizontal transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Palazzo
- Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro," Italy
| | - Ruggiero Caizzi
- Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro," Italy
| | - Luigi Viggiano
- Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro," Italy
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Palazzo A, Lovero D, D’Addabbo P, Caizzi R, Marsano RM. Identification of Bari Transposons in 23 Sequenced Drosophila Genomes Reveals Novel Structural Variants, MITEs and Horizontal Transfer. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156014. [PMID: 27213270 PMCID: PMC4877112 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Accepted: 05/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bari elements are members of the Tc1-mariner superfamily of DNA transposons, originally discovered in Drosophila melanogaster, and subsequently identified in silico in 11 sequenced Drosophila genomes and as experimentally isolated in four non-sequenced Drosophila species. Bari-like elements have been also studied for their mobility both in vivo and in vitro. We analyzed 23 Drosophila genomes and carried out a detailed characterization of the Bari elements identified, including those from the heterochromatic Bari1 cluster in D. melanogaster. We have annotated 401 copies of Bari elements classified either as putatively autonomous or inactive according to the structure of the terminal sequences and the presence of a complete transposase-coding region. Analyses of the integration sites revealed that Bari transposase prefers AT-rich sequences in which the TA target is cleaved and duplicated. Furthermore evaluation of transposon’s co-occurrence near the integration sites of Bari elements showed a non-random distribution of other transposable elements. We also unveil the existence of a putatively autonomous Bari1 variant characterized by two identical long Terminal Inverted Repeats, in D. rhopaloa. In addition, we detected MITEs related to Bari transposons in 9 species. Phylogenetic analyses based on transposase gene and the terminal sequences confirmed that Bari-like elements are distributed into three subfamilies. A few inconsistencies in Bari phylogenetic tree with respect to the Drosophila species tree could be explained by the occurrence of horizontal transfer events as also suggested by the results of dS analyses. This study further clarifies the Bari transposon’s evolutionary dynamics and increases our understanding on the Tc1-mariner elements’ biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Palazzo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” via Orabona 4 70125, Bari, Italy
| | - Domenica Lovero
- Istituto di Biomembrane e Bioenergetica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy
| | - Pietro D’Addabbo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” via Orabona 4 70125, Bari, Italy
| | - Ruggiero Caizzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” via Orabona 4 70125, Bari, Italy
| | - René Massimiliano Marsano
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” via Orabona 4 70125, Bari, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Gonçalves JW, Valiati VH, Delprat A, Valente VLS, Ruiz A. Structural and sequence diversity of the transposon Galileo in the Drosophila willistoni genome. BMC Genomics 2014; 15:792. [PMID: 25218200 PMCID: PMC4168063 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2014] [Accepted: 09/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Galileo is one of three members of the P superfamily of DNA transposons. It was originally discovered in Drosophila buzzatii, in which three segregating chromosomal inversions were shown to have been generated by ectopic recombination between Galileo copies. Subsequently, Galileo was identified in six of 12 sequenced Drosophila genomes, indicating its widespread distribution within this genus. Galileo is strikingly abundant in Drosophila willistoni, a neotropical species that is highly polymorphic for chromosomal inversions, suggesting a role for this transposon in the evolution of its genome. Results We carried out a detailed characterization of all Galileo copies present in the D. willistoni genome. A total of 191 copies, including 133 with two terminal inverted repeats (TIRs), were classified according to structure in six groups. The TIRs exhibited remarkable variation in their length and structure compared to the most complete copy. Three copies showed extended TIRs due to internal tandem repeats, the insertion of other transposable elements (TEs), or the incorporation of non-TIR sequences into the TIRs. Phylogenetic analyses of the transposase (TPase)-encoding and TIR segments yielded two divergent clades, which we termed Galileo subfamilies V and W. Target-site duplications (TSDs) in D. willistoni Galileo copies were 7- or 8-bp in length, with the consensus sequence GTATTAC. Analysis of the region around the TSDs revealed a target site motif (TSM) with a 15-bp palindrome that may give rise to a stem-loop secondary structure. Conclusions There is a remarkable abundance and diversity of Galileo copies in the D. willistoni genome, although no functional copies were found. The TIRs in particular have a dynamic structure and extend in different ways, but their ends (required for transposition) are more conserved than the rest of the element. The D. willistoni genome harbors two Galileo subfamilies (V and W) that diverged ~9 million years ago and may have descended from an ancestral element in the genome. Galileo shows a significant insertion preference for a 15-bp palindromic TSM. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-792) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vera L S Valente
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), CP 15053, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 91501-970, Brazil.
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Palazzo A, Moschetti R, Caizzi R, Marsano RM. The Drosophila mojavensis Bari3 transposon: distribution and functional characterization. Mob DNA 2014; 5:21. [PMID: 25093043 PMCID: PMC4120734 DOI: 10.1186/1759-8753-5-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2014] [Accepted: 06/13/2014] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bari-like transposons belong to the Tc1-mariner superfamily, and they have been identified in several genomes of the Drosophila genus. This transposon's family has been used as paradigm to investigate the complex dynamics underlying the persistence and structural evolution of transposable elements (TEs) within a genome. Three structural Bari variants have been identified so far and can be distinguished based on the organization of their terminal inverted repeats. Bari3 is the last discovered member of this family identified in Drosophila mojavensis, a recently emerged species of the Repleta group of the genus Drosophila. RESULTS We studied the insertion pattern of Bari3 in different D. mojavensis populations and found evidence of recent transposition activity. Analysis of the transposase domains unveiled the presence of a functional nuclear localization signal, as well as a functional binding domain. Using luciferase-based assays, we investigated the promoter activity of Bari3 as well as the interaction of its transposase with its left terminus. The results suggest that Bari3 is transposition-competent. Finally we demonstrated transposase transcript processing when the transposase gene is overexpressed in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSIONS Bari3 displays very similar structural and functional features with its close relative, Bari1. Our results strongly suggest that Bari3 is an independent element that has generated genomic diversity in D. mojavensis. It can autonomously transcribe its transposase gene, which in turn can localize in the nucleus and bind the terminal inverted repeats of the transposon. Nevertheless, the identification of an unpredicted spliced form of the Bari3 transposase transcript allows us to hypothesize a control mechanism of its mobility based on mRNA processing. These results will aid the studies on the Bari family of transposons, which is intriguing for its widespread diffusion in Drosophilids coupled with a structural diversity generated during the evolution of Bari-like elements in their host genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Palazzo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Roberta Moschetti
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Ruggiero Caizzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - René Massimiliano Marsano
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
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Palazzo A, Marconi S, Specchia V, Bozzetti MP, Ivics Z, Caizzi R, Marsano RM. Functional characterization of the Bari1 transposition system. PLoS One 2013; 8:e79385. [PMID: 24244492 PMCID: PMC3828361 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Accepted: 09/20/2013] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The transposons of the Bari family are mobile genetic elements widespread in the Drosophila genus. However, despite a broad diffusion, virtually no information is available on the mechanisms underlying their mobility. In this paper we report the functional characterization of the Bari elements transposition system. Using the Bari1 element as a model, we investigated the subcellular localization of the transposase, its physical interaction with the transposon, and its catalytic activity. The Bari1 transposase localized in the nucleus and interacted with the terminal sequences of the transposon both in vitro and in vivo, however, no transposition activity was detected in transposition assays. Profiling of mRNAs expressed by the transposase gene revealed the expression of abnormal, internally processed transposase transcripts encoding truncated, catalytically inactive transposase polypeptides. We hypothesize that a post-transcriptional control mechanism produces transposase-derived polypeptides that effectively repress transposition. Our findings suggest further clues towards understanding the mechanisms that control transposition of an important class of mobile elements, which are both an endogenous source of genomic variability and widely used as transformation vectors/biotechnological tools.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Simona Marconi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Valeria Specchia
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali (DiSTeBA), Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Bozzetti
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali (DiSTeBA), Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Zoltán Ivics
- Division of Medical Biotechnology, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany
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Marzo M, Liu D, Ruiz A, Chalmers R. Identification of multiple binding sites for the THAP domain of the Galileo transposase in the long terminal inverted-repeats. Gene 2013; 525:84-91. [PMID: 23648487 PMCID: PMC3688188 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.04.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2012] [Revised: 04/15/2013] [Accepted: 04/17/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Galileo is a DNA transposon responsible for the generation of several chromosomal inversions in Drosophila. In contrast to other members of the P-element superfamily, it has unusually long terminal inverted-repeats (TIRs) that resemble those of Foldback elements. To investigate the function of the long TIRs we derived consensus and ancestral sequences for the Galileo transposase in three species of Drosophilids. Following gene synthesis, we expressed and purified their constituent THAP domains and tested their binding activity towards the respective Galileo TIRs. DNase I footprinting located the most proximal DNA binding site about 70 bp from the transposon end. Using this sequence we identified further binding sites in the tandem repeats that are found within the long TIRs. This suggests that the synaptic complex between Galileo ends may be a complicated structure containing higher-order multimers of the transposase. We also attempted to reconstitute Galileo transposition in Drosophila embryos but no events were detected. Thus, although the limited numbers of Galileo copies in each genome were sufficient to provide functional consensus sequences for the THAP domains, they do not specify a fully active transposase. Since the THAP recognition sequence is short, and will occur many times in a large genome, it seems likely that the multiple binding sites within the long, internally repetitive, TIRs of Galileo and other Foldback-like elements may provide the transposase with its binding specificity.
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Key Words
- tir, terminal inverted repeat
- bp, base pair
- kb, kilobase
- mbp-tag, maltose binding protein expression tag
- emsa, electrophoretic mobility shift assay
- orf, open reading frame
- bs, binding site
- dbuz, drosophila buzzatii
- dmoj, drosophila mojavensis
- dana, drosophila ananassae
- p-element
- foldback
- thap domain
- dna binding
- evolution
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Affiliation(s)
- Mar Marzo
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
- Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Danxu Liu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
| | - Alfredo Ruiz
- Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ronald Chalmers
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
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Marzo M, Bello X, Puig M, Maside X, Ruiz A. Striking structural dynamism and nucleotide sequence variation of the transposon Galileo in the genome of Drosophila mojavensis. Mob DNA 2013; 4:6. [PMID: 23374229 PMCID: PMC3573991 DOI: 10.1186/1759-8753-4-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2012] [Accepted: 11/26/2012] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Galileo is a transposable element responsible for the generation of three chromosomal inversions in natural populations of Drosophila buzzatii. Although the most characteristic feature of Galileo is the long internally-repetitive terminal inverted repeats (TIRs), which resemble the Drosophila Foldback element, its transposase-coding sequence has led to its classification as a member of the P-element superfamily (Class II, subclass 1, TIR order). Furthermore, Galileo has a wide distribution in the genus Drosophila, since it has been found in 6 of the 12 Drosophila sequenced genomes. Among these species, D. mojavensis, the one closest to D. buzzatii, presented the highest diversity in sequence and structure of Galileo elements. Results In the present work, we carried out a thorough search and annotation of all the Galileo copies present in the D. mojavensis sequenced genome. In our set of 170 Galileo copies we have detected 5 Galileo subfamilies (C, D, E, F, and X) with different structures ranging from nearly complete, to only 2 TIR or solo TIR copies. Finally, we have explored the structural and length variation of the Galileo copies that point out the relatively frequent rearrangements within and between Galileo elements. Different mechanisms responsible for these rearrangements are discussed. Conclusions Although Galileo is a transposable element with an ancient history in the D. mojavensis genome, our data indicate a recent transpositional activity. Furthermore, the dynamism in sequence and structure, mainly affecting the TIRs, suggests an active exchange of sequences among the copies. This exchange could lead to new subfamilies of the transposon, which could be crucial for the long-term survival of the element in the genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mar Marzo
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalunya, 08193, Spain.
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12
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Dias ES, Carareto CMA. Ancestral polymorphism and recent invasion of transposable elements in Drosophila species. BMC Evol Biol 2012; 12:119. [PMID: 22823479 PMCID: PMC3499218 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2011] [Accepted: 07/10/2012] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the evolution of transposable elements, some processes, such as ancestral polymorphisms and horizontal transfer of sequences between species, can produce incongruences in phylogenies. We investigated the evolutionary history of the transposable elements Bari and 412 in the sequenced genomes of the Drosophila melanogaster group and in the sibling species D. melanogaster and D. simulans using traditional phylogenetic and network approaches. RESULTS Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analyses revealed incongruences and unresolved relationships for both the Bari and 412 elements. The DNA transposon Bari within the D. ananassae genome is more closely related to the element of the melanogaster complex than to the sequence in D. erecta, which is inconsistent with the species phylogeny. Divergence analysis and the comparison of the rate of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site of the Bari and host gene sequences explain the incongruence as an ancestral polymorphism that was inherited stochastically by the derived species. Unresolved relationships were observed in the ML phylogeny of both elements involving D. melanogaster, D. simulans and D. sechellia. A network approach was used to attempt to resolve these relationships. The resulting tree suggests recent transfers of both elements between D. melanogaster and D. simulans. The divergence values of the elements between these species support this conclusion. CONCLUSIONS We showed that ancestral polymorphism and recent invasion of genomes due to introgression or horizontal transfer between species occurred during the evolutionary history of the Bari and 412 elements in the melanogaster group. These invasions likely occurred in Africa during the Pleistocene, before the worldwide expansion of D. melanogaster and D. simulans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Silva Dias
- Department of Biology, São José do Rio Preto, UNESP-São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil
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13
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Wallau GL, Kaminski VL, Loreto ELS. The role of vertical and horizontal transfer in the evolution of Paris-like elements in drosophilid species. Genetica 2012; 139:1487-97. [PMID: 22527689 DOI: 10.1007/s10709-012-9648-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2012] [Accepted: 04/05/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The transposable element (TE) Paris was described in a Drosophila virilis strain (virilis species group) as causing a hybrid dysgenesis with other mobile genetic elements. Since then, the element Paris has only been found in D. buzzatii, a species from the repleta group. In this study, we performed a search for Paris-like elements in 56 species of drosophilids to improve the knowledge about the distribution and evolution of this element. Paris-like elements were found in 30 species from the Drosophila genus, 15 species from the Drosophila subgenus and 15 species from the Sophophora subgenus. Analysis of the complete sequences obtained from the complete available Drosophila genomes has shown that there are putative active elements in five species (D. elegans, D. kikkawai, D. ananassae, D. pseudoobscura and D. mojavensis). The Paris-like elements showed an approximately 242-bp-long terminal inverted repeats in the 5' and 3' boundaries (called LIR: long inverted repeat), with two 28-bp-long direct repeats in each LIR. All potentially active elements presented degeneration in the internal region of terminal inverted repeat. Despite the degeneration of the LIR, the distance of 185 bp between the direct repeats was always maintained. This conservation suggests that the spacing between direct repeats is important for transposase binding. The distribution analysis showed that these elements are widely distributed in other Drosophila groups beyond the virilis and repleta groups. The evolutionary analysis of Paris-like elements suggests that they were present as two subfamilies with the common ancestor of the Drosophila genus. Since then, these TEs have been primarily maintained by vertical transmission with some events of stochastic loss and horizontal transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Luz Wallau
- Pós Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
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