Experimentally heat‐induced transposition increases drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Summary Eukaryotic genomes contain a vast diversity of transposable elements (TEs). Formerly often described as selfish and parasitic DNA sequences, TEs are now recognised as a source of genetic diversity and powerful drivers of evolution. However, because their mobility is tightly controlled by the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2022-10, Vol.236 (1), p.182-194
Main Authors: Thieme, Michael, Brêchet, Arthur, Bourgeois, Yann, Keller, Bettina, Bucher, Etienne, Roulin, Anne C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adaptation
Arabidopsis thaliana
DNA sequences
Drought
Drought resistance
drought tolerance
Emergence
Eukaryotes
Evolution
experimental evolution
Gene sequencing
Genetic diversity
Genetic variation
Genomes
Heat
Insertion
loss‐of‐function mutation
Mutation
Nucleotide sequence
Phosphates
Photosynthesis
Ribose
transposable elements
Transposition
Water consumption
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Summary:Summary Eukaryotic genomes contain a vast diversity of transposable elements (TEs). Formerly often described as selfish and parasitic DNA sequences, TEs are now recognised as a source of genetic diversity and powerful drivers of evolution. However, because their mobility is tightly controlled by the host, studies experimentally assessing how fast TEs may mediate the emergence of adaptive traits are scarce. We exposed Arabidopsis thaliana high‐copy TE lines (hcLines) with up to c. eight‐fold increased copy numbers of the heat‐responsive ONSEN TE to drought as a straightforward and ecologically highly relevant selection pressure. We provide evidence for increased drought tolerance in five out of the 23 tested hcLines and further pinpoint one of the causative mutations to an exonic insertion of ONSEN in the ribose‐5‐phosphate‐isomerase 2 gene. The resulting loss‐of‐function mutation caused a decreased rate of photosynthesis, plant size and water consumption. Overall, we show that the heat‐induced transposition of a low‐copy TE increases phenotypic diversity and leads to the emergence of drought‐tolerant individuals in A. thaliana. This is one of the rare empirical examples substantiating the adaptive potential of mobilised stress‐responsive TEs in eukaryotes. Our work demonstrates the potential of TE‐mediated loss‐of‐function mutations in stress adaptation.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137
DOI:10.1111/nph.18322