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The impact of transposable elements in environmental adaptation
Author(s) -
Casacuberta Elena,
González Josefa
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.12170
Subject(s) - biology , adaptation (eye) , transposable element , genome , prokaryote , eukaryote , function (biology) , variety (cybernetics) , evolutionary biology , computational biology , host adaptation , host (biology) , mechanism (biology) , gene , genetics , neuroscience , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence
Abstract Transposable elements ( TE s) play an important role in the responsive capacity of their hosts in the face of environmental challenges. The variety of mechanisms by which TE s influence the capacity of adaptation of the host is as large as the variety of TE s and host genomes. For example, TE s might directly affect the function of individual genes, provide a mechanism for rapidly acquiring new genetic material and disseminate regulatory elements that can lead to the creation of stress‐inducible regulatory networks. In this review, we summarize recent examples that are part of an increasing body of evidence suggesting a significant role of TE s in the host response to an ever‐changing environment, both in prokaryote and in eukaryote organisms. We argue that in the near future, the increasing availability of genome sequences and the development of new tools to discover and analyse TE insertions will further show the relevant role of TE s in environmental adaptation.