English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Mammalian genomes comprise many active and fossilized retroelements. The obligate requirement for retroelement integration affords host genomes an opportunity to ‘domesticate’ retroelement genes for their own purpose, leading to important innovations in genome defense and placentation. While many such exaptations involve retroviruses, the  L1TD1  gene is the only known domesticated gene whose protein-coding sequence is almost entirely derived from a LINE-1 (L1) retroelement. Human  L1TD1  has been shown to play an important role in pluripotency maintenance. To investigate how this role was acquired, we traced the origin and evolution of  L1TD1 . We find that  L1TD1  originated in the common ancestor of eutherian mammals, but was lost or pseudogenized multiple times during mammalian evolution. We also find that  L1TD1  has evolved under positive selection during primate and mouse evolution, and that one prosimian  L1TD1  has ‘replenished’ itself with a more recent L1 ORF1 from the prosimian genome. These data suggest that  L1TD1  has been recurrently selected for functional novelty, perhaps for a role in genome defense.  L1TD1  loss is associated with L1 extinction in several megabat lineages, but not in sigmodontine rodents. We hypothesize that  L1TD1  could have originally evolved for genome defense against L1 elements. Later,  L1TD1  may have become incorporated into pluripotency maintenance in some lineages. Our study highlights the role of retroelement gene domestication in fundamental aspects of mammalian biology, and that such domesticated genes can adopt different functions in different lineages.

Positive Selection and Multiple Losses of the LINE-1-Derived L1TD1 Gene in Mammals Suggest a Dual Role in Genome Defense and Pluripotency