Horizontal transfers of LTR retrotransposons in seven species of Rosales

Abstract

Horizontal transposable element transfer (HTT) events have occurred among a large number of species and play important roles in the composition and evolution of eukaryotic genomes. HTTs are also regarded as effective forces in promoting genomic variation and biological innovation. In the present study, HTT events were identified and analyzed in seven sequenced species of Rosales using bioinformatics methods by comparing sequence conservation and Ka/Ks value of reverse transcriptase (RT) with 20 conserved genes, estimating the dating of HTTs, and analyzing the phylogenetic relationships. Seven HTT events involving long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons, two HTTs between Morus notabilis and Ziziphus jujuba, and five between Malus domestica and Pyrus bretschneideri were identified. Further analysis revealed that these LTR retrotransposons had functional structures, and the copy insertion times were lower than the dating of HTTs, particularly in Mn.Zj.1 and Md.Pb.3. Altogether, the results demonstrate that LTR retrotransposons still have potential transposition activity in host genomes. These results indicate that HTT events are another strategy for exchanging genetic material among species and are important for the evolution of genomes.