ReviewNucleic acids research2010
Transposases are the most abundant, most ubiquitous genes in nature.
Review in Nucleic acids research, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 174 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.
The trial behind it
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
174 citing papers in PubMed, 333 citations in OpenAlex.
- FXR-Dependent Modulation of the Human Small Intestinal Microbiome by the Bile Acid Derivative Obeticholic Acid.Gastroenterology · 2018Trial
- Review
- Cooperation, competition and enforcement in transposon evolution.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mobile genetic elements shape microbial diversity and functions in thawing permafrost soils.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Comparative genomics and methylome profiling ofMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Comprehensive profiling of insertion sequences and eukaryotic-like transposons across archaeal genomes.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Metagenomic Insights into Microbial Community Succession and its Functional Changes during Natural Fermentation of Food Waste.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2026Article
- A One Health Perspective onMicroorganisms · 2026Review
- Physiological Changes and Transposition of Insertion Sequences in theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Interfering Transposable Elements: ISXoo15 Transposase as a First-in-Class Antibacterial Target Against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.Molecular plant pathology · 2025Article
- Host-virome associations in the weathering crust of a rapidly retreating temperate Alpine glacier.Microbial genomics · 2025Article
- Comparative structural analysis of IS21 transposition complexes using Cryo-EM and AlphaFold3.Mobile DNA · 2025Article
- Mechanism of DNA degradation by CBASS Cap5 endonuclease immune effector.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Know Your Enemy:Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Metagenomic analysis of heavy water-adapted bacterial communities.Microbial genomics · 2025Article
- aurora: a machine learning gwas tool for analyzing microbial habitat adaptation.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Exploring the exoproteome of the parasitic nematodeFrontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Article
- De novo gene synthesis by an antiviral reverse transcriptase.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Transposition with Tn3-family elements occurs through interaction with the host β-sliding clamp processivity factor.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
114 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Genes, like organisms, struggle for existence, and the most successful genes persist and widely disseminate in nature. The unbiased determination of the most successful genes requires access to sequence data from a wide range of phylogenetic taxa and ecosystems, which has finally become achievable thanks to the deluge of genomic and metagenomic sequences. Here, we analyzed 10 million protein-encoding genes and gene tags in sequenced bacterial, archaeal, eukaryotic and viral genomes and metagenomes, and our analysis demonstrates that genes encoding transposases are the most prevalent genes in nature. The finding that these genes, classically considered as selfish genes, outnumber essential or housekeeping genes suggests that they offer selective advantage to the genomes and ecosystems they inhabit, a hypothesis in agreement with an emerging body of literature. Their mobile nature not only promotes dissemination of transposable elements within and between genomes but also leads to mutations and rearrangements that can accelerate biological diversification and--consequently--evolution. By securing their own replication and dissemination, transposases guarantee to thrive so long as nucleic acid-based life forms exist.
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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.