ArticlePLoS genetics2009
The pattern of R2 retrotransposon activity in natural populations of Drosophila simulans reflects the dynamic nature of the rDNA locus.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bacterial DNA invasion triggers transposable element proliferation and genome expansion.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Review
- Under the magnifying glass: The ups and downs of rDNA copy number.Seminars in cell & developmental biology · 2023Review
- Article
- Impaired function of rDNA transcription initiation machinery leads to derepression of ribosomal genes with insertions of R2 retrotransposon.Nucleic acids research · 2022Article
- Article
- Nucleolar dominance and maternal control of 45S rDNA expression.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2015Article
- Integration, Regulation, and Long-Term Stability of R2 Retrotransposons.Microbiology spectrum · 2015Review
- Article
- The wide expansion of hepatitis delta virus-like ribozymes throughout trypanosomatid genomes is linked to the spreading of L1Tc/ingi clade mobile elements.BMC genomics · 2014Article
- Preferential occupancy of R2 retroelements on the B chromosomes of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans.PloS one · 2014Article
- Ribosomal DNA is active in different B chromosome variants of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans.Genetica · 2013Article
- A population genetic model for the maintenance of R2 retrotransposons in rRNA gene loci.PLoS genetics · 2013Article
- Y chromosome mediates ribosomal DNA silencing and modulates the chromatin state in Drosophila.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2012Article
- R2 and R2/R1 hybrid non-autonomous retrotransposons derived by internal deletions of full-length elements.Mobile DNA · 2012Article
- Copy number variation of ribosomal DNA and Pokey transposons in natural populations of Daphnia.Mobile DNA · 2012Article
- Identification of an hepatitis delta virus-like ribozyme at the mRNA 5'-end of the L1Tc retrotransposon from Trypanosoma cruzi.Nucleic acids research · 2011Article
- Retrotransposition of R2 elements in somatic nuclei during the early development of Drosophila.Mobile DNA · 2011Article
- The reverse transcriptase encoded by the non-LTR retrotransposon R2 is as error-prone as that encoded by HIV-1.Journal of molecular biology · 2011Article
- R2 dynamics in Triops cancriformis (Bosc, 1801) (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Notostraca): turnover rate and 28S concerted evolution.Heredity · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The pattern and frequency of insertions that enable transposable elements to remain active in a population are poorly understood. The retrotransposable element R2 exclusively inserts into the 28S rRNA genes where it establishes long-term, stable relationships with its animal hosts. Previous studies with laboratory stocks of Drosophila simulans have suggested that control over R2 retrotransposition resides within the rDNA loci. In this report, we sampled 180 rDNA loci of animals collected from two natural populations of D. simulans. The two populations were found to have similar patterns of R2 activity. About half of the rDNA loci supported no or very low levels of R2 transcripts with no evidence of R2 retrotransposition. The remaining half of the rDNA loci had levels of R2 transcripts that varied in a continuous manner over almost a 100-fold range and did support new retrotransposition events. Structural analysis of the rDNA loci in 18 lines that spanned the range of R2 transcript levels in these populations revealed that R2 number and rDNA locus size varied 2-fold; however, R2 activity was not readily correlated with either of these parameters. Instead R2 activity was best correlated with the distribution of elements within the rDNA locus. Loci with no activity had larger contiguous blocks of rDNA units free of R2-insertions. These data suggest a model in which frequent recombination within the rDNA locus continually redistributes R2-inserted units resulting in changing levels of R2 activity within individual loci and persistent R2 activity within the population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.