Ahmad Aftab, Su Xu, Harris A J, Ren Zhumei
School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810016, China.
Biology (Basel). 2022 May 10;11(5):731. doi: 10.3390/biology11050731.
Horizontal transfer of transposons (HTT) is an essential source of genomic evolution in eukaryotes. The HTT dynamics are well characterized in eukaryotes, including insects; however, there is a considerable gap in knowledge about HTT regarding many eukaryotes' species. In this study, we analyzed the events of the HTT between gall aphids (Hemiptera) and other insects. We analyzed the -like transposable elements (MLEs) belonging to gall aphids for the possible HT events. The MLEs have a patchy distribution and high similarity over the entire element length with insect MLEs from different orders. We selected representative sequences from the gall MLEs and identified five events of HT between MLEs of gall aphids and other insects from five different orders. We also found multiple HTT events among the MLEs of insects from the five orders, demonstrating that these elements have been involved in recurrent HT between gall aphids and other insects. Our current study closed the knowledge gap surrounding HTT and reported the events between gall aphids and other insects for the first time. We believe that this study about HTT events will help us understand the evolution and spread of transposable elements in the genomes of gall aphids.
转座子的水平转移（HTT）是真核生物基因组进化的重要来源。HTT动态在包括昆虫在内的真核生物中已有充分表征；然而，对于许多真核生物物种的HTT，我们的认识还存在相当大的差距。在本研究中，我们分析了瘿蚜（半翅目）与其他昆虫之间的HTT事件。我们分析了瘿蚜所属的类似转座元件（MLEs），以寻找可能的HT事件。这些MLEs分布零散，在整个元件长度上与来自不同目的昆虫MLEs具有高度相似性。我们从瘿蚜MLEs中选择了代表性序列，并确定了瘿蚜MLEs与来自五个不同目的其他昆虫的MLEs之间的五次HT事件。我们还在这五个目的昆虫的MLEs之间发现了多次HTT事件，表明这些元件参与了瘿蚜与其他昆虫之间反复发生的HT。我们目前的研究填补了围绕HTT的知识空白，并首次报道了瘿蚜与其他昆虫之间的事件。我们相信，这项关于HTT事件的研究将有助于我们了解转座元件在瘿蚜基因组中的进化和传播。
