Short and long-term evolutionary dynamics of subtelomeric piRNA clusters in Drosophila

Two Telomeric Associated Sequences, TAS-R and TAS-L, form the principal subtelomeric repeat families identified in Drosophila melanogaster. They are PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) clusters involved in repression of Transposable Elements. In this study, we revisited TAS structural and functional dynami...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:DNA research 2017-10, Vol.24 (5), p.459-472
Main Authors: Asif-Laidin, Amna, Delmarre, Valérie, Laurentie, Jeanne, Miller, Wolfgang J, Ronsseray, Stéphane, Teysset, Laure
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Computer Simulation
Development Biology
DNA Transposable Elements
Drosophila melanogaster - genetics
Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism
Evolution, Molecular
Female
Genes, Insect
Life Sciences
Male
RNA, Small Interfering - genetics
Telomere
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Summary:Two Telomeric Associated Sequences, TAS-R and TAS-L, form the principal subtelomeric repeat families identified in Drosophila melanogaster. They are PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) clusters involved in repression of Transposable Elements. In this study, we revisited TAS structural and functional dynamics in D. melanogaster and in related species. In silico analysis revealed that TAS-R family members are composed of previously uncharacterized domains. This analysis also showed that TAS-L repeats are composed of arrays of a region we have named "TAS-L like" (TLL) identified specifically in one TAS-R family member, X-TAS. TLL were also present in other species of the melanogaster subgroup. Therefore, it is possible that TLL represents an ancestral subtelomeric piRNA core-cluster. Furthermore, all D. melanogaster genomes tested possessed at least one TAS-R locus, whereas TAS-L can be absent. A screen of 110 D. melanogaster lines showed that X-TAS is always present in flies living in the wild, but often absent in long-term laboratory stocks and that natural populations frequently lost their X-TAS within 2 years upon lab conditioning. Therefore, the unexpected structural and temporal dynamics of subtelomeric piRNA clusters demonstrated here suggests that genome organization is subjected to distinct selective pressures in the wild and upon domestication in the laboratory.
ISSN:1340-2838
1756-1663
DOI:10.1093/dnares/dsx017