Variation in base composition underlies functional and evolutionary divergence in non-LTR retrotransposons

On the Base Composition of Transposable Elements

Transposable elements exhibit a base composition that is often different from the genomic average and from hosts’ genes. The most common compositional bias is towards Adenosine and Thymine, although this bias is not universal, and elements with drastically different base composition can coexist within the same genome. The AT-richness of transposable elements is apparently maladaptive because it results in poor transcription and sub-optimal translation of proteins encoded by the elements. The cause(s) of this unusual base composition remain unclear and have yet to be investigated. Here, I review what is known about the nucleotide content of transposable elements and how this content can affect the genome of their host as well as their own replication. The compositional bias of transposable elements could result from several non-exclusive processes including horizontal transfer, mutational bias, and selection. It appears that mutation alone cannot explain the high AT-content of transposons and that selection plays a major role in the evolution of the compositional bias. The reason why selection would favor a maladaptive nucleotide content remains however unexplained and is an area of investigation that clearly deserves attention.

The Structural, Functional and Evolutionary Impact of Transposable Elements in Eukaryotes

Transposable elements (TEs) are nearly ubiquitous in eukaryotes. The increase in genomic data, as well as progress in genome annotation and molecular biology techniques, have revealed the vast number of ways mobile elements have impacted the evolution of eukaryotes. In addition to being the main cause of difference in haploid genome size, TEs have affected the overall organization of genomes by accumulating preferentially in some genomic regions, by causing structural rearrangements or by modifying the recombination rate. Although the vast majority of insertions is neutral or deleterious, TEs have been an important source of evolutionary novelties and have played a determinant role in the evolution of fundamental biological processes. TEs have been recruited in the regulation of host genes and are implicated in the evolution of regulatory networks. They have also served as a source of protein-coding sequences or even entire genes. The impact of TEs on eukaryotic evolution is only now being fully appreciated and the role they may play in a number of biological processes, such as speciation and adaptation, remains to be deciphered.

Quantitative Approach to Fish Cytogenetics in the Context of Vertebrate Genome Evolution

Our novel Python-based tool EVANGELIST allows the visualization of GC and repeats percentages along chromosomes in sequenced genomes and has enabled us to perform quantitative large-scale analyses on the chromosome level in fish and other vertebrates. This is a different approach from the prevailing analyses, i.e., analyses of GC% in the coding sequences that make up not more than 2% in human. We identified GC content (GC%) elevations in microchromosomes in ancient fish lineages similar to avian microchromosomes and a large variability in the relationship between the chromosome size and their GC% across fish lineages. This raises the question as to what extent does the chromosome size drive GC% as posited by the currently accepted explanation based on the recombination rate. We ascribe the differences found across fishes to varying GC% of repetitive sequences. Generally, our results suggest that the GC% of repeats and proportion of repeats are independent of the chromosome size. This leaves an open space for another mechanism driving the GC evolution in vertebrates.

GC and Repeats Profiling along Chromosomes-The Future of Fish Compositional Cytogenomics

The study of fish cytogenetics has been impeded by the inability to produce G-bands that could assign chromosomes to their homologous pairs. Thus, the majority of karyotypes published have been estimated based on morphological similarities of chromosomes. The reason why chromosome G-banding does not work in fish remains elusive. However, the recent increase in the number of fish genomes assembled to the chromosome level provides a way to analyse this issue. We have developed a Python tool to visualize and quantify GC percentage (GC%) of both repeats and unique DNA along chromosomes using a non-overlapping sliding window approach. Our tool profiles GC% and simultaneously plots the proportion of repeats (rep%) in a color scale (or vice versa). Hence, it is possible to assess the contribution of repeats to the total GC%. The main differences are the GC% of repeats homogenizing the overall GC% along fish chromosomes and a greater range of GC% scattered along fish chromosomes. This may explain the inability to produce G-banding in fish. We also show an occasional banding pattern along the chromosomes in some fish that probably cannot be detected with traditional qualitative cytogenetic methods.