Title

Expansion of a single transposable element family is associated with genome-size increase and radiation in the genus Hydra

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Publication Date

11-12-2019

Abstract

Transposable elements are one of the major contributors to genome-size differences in metazoans. Despite this, relatively little is known about the evolutionary patterns of element expansions and the element families involved. Here we report a broad genomic sampling within the genus Hydra, a freshwater cnidarian at the focal point of diverse research in regeneration, symbiosis, biogeography, and aging. We find that the genome of Hydra is the result of an expansion event involving long interspersed nuclear elements and in particular a single family of the chicken repeat 1 (CR1) class. This expansion is unique to a subgroup of the genus Hydra, the brown hydras, and is absent in the green hydra, which has a repeat landscape similar to that of other cnidarians. These features of the genome make Hydra attractive for studies of transposon-driven genome expansions and speciation.

Volume

116

Issue

46

First Page

22915

Last Page

22917

DOI

10.1073/pnas.1910106116

ISSN

00278424

E-ISSN

10916490

PubMed ID

31659034

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