The role of transposable elements in the ecological morphogenesis under the influence of stress

Abstract

In natural selection, insertional mutagenesis is an important source of genome variability. Transposons are sensors of environmental stress effects, which contribute to adaptation and speciation. These effects are due to changes in the mechanisms of morphogenesis, since transposons contain regulatory sequences that have cis and trans effects on specific protein-coding genes. In variability of genomes, the horizontal transfer of transposons plays an important role, because it contributes to changing the composition of transposons and the acquisition of new properties. Transposons are capable of site-specific transpositions, which lead to the activation of stress response genes. Transposons are sources of non-coding RNA, transcription factors binding sites and protein-coding genes due to domestication, exonization, and duplication. These genes contain nucleotide sequences that interact with non-coding RNAs processed from transposons transcripts, and therefore they are under the control of epigenetic regulatory networks involving transposons. Therefore, inherited features of the location and composition of transposons, along with a change in the phenotype, play an important role in the characteristics of responding to a variety of environmental stressors. This is the basis for the selection and survival of organisms with a specific composition and arrangement of transposons that contribute to adaptation under certain environmental conditions. In evolution, the capability to transpose into specific genome sites, regulate gene expression, and interact with transcription factors, along with the ability to respond to stressors, is the basis for rapid variability and speciation by altering the regulation of ontogenesis. The review presents evidence of tissue-specific and stage-specific features of transposon activation and their role in the regulation of cell differentiation to confirm their role in ecological morphogenesis.

Dual-RNAseq Analysis Unravels Virus-Host Interactions of MetSV and Methanosarcina mazei

“…The enzyme was not found to replace or complement a potentially not functional Cas1 enzyme of the CRISPR system, so far [39,40,46] (Figures 3 and 4). The observed increase in transcription was in a low range based on RNAseq results and on relative qRT-PCRs, and might be a hint for general stress-induced transposase activity, which was described for a variety of organisms, stress conditions, and transposons [47][48][49][50]. For example temperature stress-induced translocation of transposons was reported in Halobacterium halobium [50].…”

The relationship of lamins with epigenetic factors during aging

“…Transposable elements are the most important sensors of environmental stressors, exerting an adaptive regulatory effect on protein-coding genes (Mustafin, Khusnutdinova, 2019). According to the theory of "buffering function of the tail of lamins", NL acts as an intracellular sensor of the reactive oxygen species (through conservative changes in the cysteine residue in the tail domain of the lamin).…”

“…Lamins (Pekovic et al, 2011) and transposons (Mustafin, Khusnutdinova, 2019) are sensors of environmental stress effects, characterized by their interconnection and possible potentiation of dysregulation during aging. Therefore, it is necessary to consider other possible mechanisms affecting their activity during aging.…”

Involvement of transposable elements in neurogenesis

“…In accordance with these data, it can be assumed that the features of TEs activation observed in neuronal stem cells can naturally alter the expression of specific genes necessary for differentiation of neurons during the formation of specific brain structures. The reason for the activation of TEs in the neuronal stem cells of the hippocampus and the reason for their importance in memory consolidation may be the sensitivity of TEs to stressful environmental influences (Mustafin, Khusnutdinova, 2019). These mechanisms are a particular reflection of the general pattern of epigenetic control of the development of the whole organism, starting from the first division of the zygote, under the regulatory influence of TEs (Mustafin, Khusnutdinova, 2018).…”

“…In the transcribed portion of the gene, TEs can reduce mRNA levels by slowing transcription due to the high A/T content in ORF2 of TEs such as L1 RE (Thomas, Muotri, 2012). However, despite the potentially mutagenic effect TEs play a role in the evolution of the genomes of all eukaryotes through the use of TE sequences to form host adaptive abilities (Mustafin, Khusnutdinova, 2019). TEs are involved in controlling the expression of protein-coding genes, many of which (Joly-Lopez, Bureau, 2018), including transcription factors (Ito et al, 2017), originated from TEs.…”