Expansion by whole genome duplication and evolution of the sox gene family in teleost fish.

It is now recognized that several rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) have occurred during the evolution of vertebrates, but the link between WGDs and phenotypic diversification remains unsolved. We have investigated in this study the impact of the teleost-specific WGD on the evolution of the sox gene family in teleostean fishes. The sox gene family, which encodes for transcription factors, has essential role in morphology, physiology and behavior of vertebrates and teleosts, the current largest group of vertebrates.

Transposable elements and early evolution of sex chromosomes in fish.

In many organisms, the sex chromosome pair can be recognized due to heteromorphy; the Y and W chromosomes have often lost many genes due to the absence of recombination during meiosis and are frequently heterochromatic. Repetitive sequences are found at a high proportion on such heterochromatic sex chromosomes and the evolution and emergence of sex chromosomes has been connected to the dynamics of repeats and transposable elements. With an amazing plasticity of sex determination mechanisms and numerous instances of independent emergence of novel sex chromosomes, fish represent an excellent lineage to investigate the early stages of sex chromosome differentiation, where sex chromosomes often are homomorphic and not heterochromatic.

Evolutionary impact of transposable elements on genomic diversity and lineage-specific innovation in vertebrates.

Since their discovery, a growing body of evidence has emerged demonstrating that transposable elements are important drivers of species diversity. These mobile elements exhibit a great variety in structure, size and mechanisms of transposition, making them important putative actors in organism evolution. The vertebrates represent a highly diverse and successful lineage that has adapted to a wide range of different environments.

Comparative analysis of transposable elements highlights mobilome diversity and evolution in vertebrates.

Transposable elements (TEs) are major components of vertebrate genomes, with major roles in genome architecture and evolution. In order to characterize both common patterns and lineage-specific differences in TE content and TE evolution, we have compared the mobilomes of 23 vertebrate genomes, including 10 actinopterygian fish, 11 sarcopterygians, and 2 nonbony vertebrates. We found important variations in TE content (from 6% in the pufferfish tetraodon to 55% in zebrafish), with a more important relative contribution of TEs to genome size in fish than in mammals.

Drosophila C virus systemic infection leads to intestinal obstruction.

Unlabelled: Drosophila C virus (DCV) is a positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the Dicistroviridae family. This natural pathogen of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster is commonly used to investigate antiviral host defense in flies, which involves both RNA interference and inducible responses. Although lethality is used routinely as a readout for the efficiency of the antiviral immune response in these studies, virus-induced pathologies in flies still are poorly understood.

The rainbow trout genome provides novel insights into evolution after whole-genome duplication in vertebrates.

Vertebrate evolution has been shaped by several rounds of whole-genome duplications (WGDs) that are often suggested to be associated with adaptive radiations and evolutionary innovations. Due to an additional round of WGD, the rainbow trout genome offers a unique opportunity to investigate the early evolutionary fate of a duplicated vertebrate genome. Here we show that after 100 million years of evolution the two ancestral subgenomes have remained extremely collinear, despite the loss of half of the duplicated protein-coding genes, mostly through pseudogenization.

A multicopy Y-chromosomal SGNH hydrolase gene expressed in the testis of the platyfish has been captured and mobilized by a Helitron transposon.

Background: Teleost fish present a high diversity of sex determination systems, with possible frequent evolutionary turnover of sex chromosomes and sex-determining genes. In order to identify genes involved in male sex determination and differentiation in the platyfish Xiphophorus maculatus, bacterial artificial chromosome contigs from the sex-determining region differentiating the Y from the X chromosome have been assembled and analyzed.

Results: A novel three-copy gene called teximY (for testis-expressed in Xiphophorus maculatus on the Y) was identified on the Y but not on the X chromosome.

Gene amplification and functional diversification of melanocortin 4 receptor at an extremely polymorphic locus controlling sexual maturation in the platyfish.

In two swordtail species of the genus Xiphophorus, the onset of puberty has been shown to be modulated at the P locus by sequence polymorphism and gene copy-number variation affecting the type 4 melanocortin hormone receptor Mc4r. The system works through the interaction of two allelic types, one encoding wild type and the other dominant-negative receptors. We have analyzed the structure and evolution of the P locus in the platyfish Xiphophorus maculatus, where as many as nine alleles of P determining the onset of sexual maturity in males and females, fecundity in females, and adult size in males are located on both the X and Y chromosomes in a region linked to the master sex-determining locus.

Transcriptional activity of transposable elements in coelacanth.

The morphological stasis of coelacanths has long suggested a slow evolutionary rate. General genomic stasis might also imply a decrease of transposable elements activity. To evaluate the potential activity of transposable elements (TEs) in "living fossil" species, transcriptomic data of Latimeria chalumnae and its Indonesian congener Latimeria menadoensis were compared through the RNA-sequencing mapping procedures in three different organs (liver, testis, and muscle).

Genetic innovation in vertebrates: gypsy integrase genes and other genes derived from transposable elements.

Due to their ability to drive DNA rearrangements and to serve as a source of new coding and regulatory sequences, transposable elements (TEs) are considered as powerful evolutionary agents within genomes. In this paper, we review the mechanism of molecular domestication, which corresponds to the formation of new genes derived from TE sequences. Many genes derived from retroelements and DNA transposons have been identified in mammals and other vertebrates, some of them fulfilling essential functions for the development and survival of their host organisms.