[Prevalence, Diversity, and Evolution of L18 (DD37E) Transposons in the Genomes of Cnidarians].

ABSTRACT

Transposable elements have a significant impact on the structure and functioning of multicellular genomes, and also serve as a source of new genes. Studying the diversity and evolution of transposable elements in different taxa is necessary for the fundamental understanding of their role in genomes. The Tc1/mariner elements are one of the most widespread and diverse groups of DNA transposons. In this work, the structure, distribution, diversity, and evolution of the L18 (DD37E) elements in the genomes of cnidarians (Cnidaria) were studied for the first time. As a result, it was found that the L18 group is an independent family (and not a subfamily of the TLE family, as previously thought) in the Tc1/mariner superfamily. Of the 51 detected elements, only four had potentially functional copies. It is assumed that the L18 transposons are of ancient origin, and, in addition, the elements found in the genomes of organisms of the Anthozoa and Hydrozoa classes do not come from a common ancestral transposon within the Cnidaria phylum. In organisms of the Hydrozoa class, L18 transposons appeared as a result of horizontal transfer at a later time period. An intraspecies comparison of the diversity of the L18 elements demonstrates high homogeneity with respect to "old" transposons, which have already lost their activity. At the same time, distant populations, as in the case of Hydra viridissima, have differences in the representation of DNA transposons and the number of copies. These data supplement the knowledge on the diversity and evolution of Tc1/mariner transposons and contribute to the study of the influence of mobile genetic elements on the evolution of multicellular organisms.