Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DAFE), University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80-56124, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DAFE), University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80-56124, Pisa, Italy.
Biosystems. 2021 Dec;210:104566. doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104566. Epub 2021 Oct 28.
Transposable elements (TEs) contribute to genomic innovations, as well as genome instability, across a wide variety of species. Popular designations such as 'selfish DNA' and 'junk DNA,' common in the 1980s, may be either inaccurate or misleading, while a more enlightened view of the TE-host relationship covers a range from parasitism to mutualism. Both plant and animal hosts have evolved epigenetic mechanisms to reduce the impact of TEs, both by directly silencing them and by reducing their ability to transpose in the genome. However, TEs have also been co-opted by both plant and animal genomes to perform a variety of physiological functions, ranging from TE-derived proteins acting directly in normal biological functions to innovations in transcription factor activity and also influencing gene expression. Their presence, in fact, can affect a range of features at genome, phenotype, and population levels. The impact TEs have had on evolution is multifaceted, and many aspects still remain unexplored. In this review, the epigenetic control of TEs is contextualized according to the evolution of complex living systems.
转座元件 (TEs) 在广泛的物种中为基因组创新以及基因组不稳定性做出了贡献。在 20 世纪 80 年代很常见的一些名称，如“自私 DNA”和“垃圾 DNA”，可能不准确或具有误导性，而对 TE-宿主关系的更有启发性的看法涵盖了从寄生到共生的范围。植物和动物宿主都进化出了表观遗传机制来降低 TEs 的影响，既可以直接沉默它们，也可以降低它们在基因组中转座的能力。然而，TEs 也被植物和动物基因组所利用，以执行各种生理功能，范围从直接作用于正常生物学功能的 TE 衍生蛋白到转录因子活性的创新，以及影响基因表达。事实上，它们的存在会影响基因组、表型和种群水平的一系列特征。TEs 对进化的影响是多方面的，许多方面仍有待探索。在这篇综述中，根据复杂生命系统的进化，将 TEs 的表观遗传控制置于上下文中。
