Journal
TRENDS IN GENETICS
Volume 36, Issue 7, Pages 474-489Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2020.04.007
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Funding
- NSF-DEB [1457800]
- NIH [R01-119125, R01-074737]
- NSF-MCB [1413532]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Div Of Molecular and Cellular Bioscience [1413532] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1457800] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic parasites that can exponentially increase their genomic abundance through self-propagation. Classic theoretical papers highlighted the importance of two potentially escalating forces that oppose TE spread: regulated transposition and purifying selection. Here, we review new insights into mechanisms of TE regulation and purifying selection, which reveal the remarkable foresight of these theoretical models. We further highlight emergent connections between transcriptional control enacted by small RNAs and the contribution of TE insertions to structural mutation and host-gene regulation. Finally, we call for increased comparative analysis of TE dynamics and fitness effects, as well as host control mechanisms, to reveal how interconnected forces shape the differential prevalence and distribution of TEs across the tree of life.
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