ArticlePLoS genetics2012
A gene family derived from transposable elements during early angiosperm evolution has reproductive fitness benefits in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Mutations mark cell lineages and sectors in flowers of a woody angiosperm.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Orphan genes are not a distinct biological entity.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Thermo-Sensitive Spikelet Defects 1 acclimatizes rice spikelet initiation and development to high temperature.Plant physiology · 2023Article
- Genome-Wide Analysis of Long Non-coding RNAs Involved in Nodule Senescence inFrontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Transposable Elements: Distribution, Polymorphism, and Climate Adaptation inFrontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Review
- Review
- Unearthing LTR Retrotransposon gag Genes Co-opted in the Deep Evolution of Eukaryotes.Molecular biology and evolution · 2021Article
- Transposable Elements in the Genome of Human ParasiteTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2021Review
- Twenty years of transposable element analysis in theMobile DNA · 2020Review
- Co-localization of genomic regions associated with seed morphology and composition in a desi chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) population varying in seed protein concentration.TAG. Theoretical and applied genetics. Theoretische und angewandte Genetik · 2019Article
- Nanopore Sequencing andFrontiers in genetics · 2019Article
- Evolution ofMobile DNA · 2019Article
- Transposable Elements Contribute to the Adaptation of Arabidopsis thaliana.Genome biology and evolution · 2018Article
- Transposable Element Domestication As an Adaptation to Evolutionary Conflicts.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2017Review
- Silencing of Transposable Elements by piRNAs in Drosophila: An Evolutionary Perspective.Genomics, proteomics & bioinformatics · 2017Review
- The Role of Microsatellites in Streptophyta Gene Evolution.Journal of molecular evolution · 2017Article
- Useful parasites: the evolutionary biology and biotechnology applications of transposable elements.Journal of genetics · 2016Review
- Phylogenetic and Genomic Analyses Resolve the Origin of Important Plant Genes Derived from Transposable Elements.Molecular biology and evolution · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The benefits of ever-growing numbers of sequenced eukaryotic genomes will not be fully realized until we learn to decipher vast stretches of noncoding DNA, largely composed of transposable elements. Transposable elements persist through self-replication, but some genes once encoded by transposable elements have, through a process called molecular domestication, evolved new functions that increase fitness. Although they have conferred numerous adaptations, the number of such domesticated transposable element genes remains unknown, so their evolutionary and functional impact cannot be fully assessed. Systematic searches that exploit genomic signatures of natural selection have been employed to identify potential domesticated genes, but their predictions have yet to be experimentally verified. To this end, we investigated a family of domesticated genes called MUSTANG (MUG), identified in a previous bioinformatic search of plant genomes. We show that MUG genes are functional. Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana MUG genes yield phenotypes with severely reduced plant fitness through decreased plant size, delayed flowering, abnormal development of floral organs, and markedly reduced fertility. MUG genes are present in all flowering plants, but not in any non-flowering plant lineages, such as gymnosperms, suggesting that the molecular domestication of MUG may have been an integral part of early angiosperm evolution. This study shows that systematic searches can be successful at identifying functional genetic elements in noncoding regions and demonstrates how to combine systematic searches with reverse genetics in a fruitful way to decipher eukaryotic genomes.
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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.