Publications

Potential impact of stress activated retrotransposons on genome evolution in a marine diatom

Maumus F, Allen AE, Mhiri C, Hu H, Jabbari K, Vardi A, Grandbastien MA, Bowler C

PMID: 20028555

Abstract

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile DNA sequences present in the genomes of most organisms. They have been extensively studied in animals, fungi, and plants, and have been shown to have important functions in genome dynamics and species evolution. Recent genomic data can now enlarge the identification and study of TEs to other branches of the eukaryotic tree of life. Diatoms, which belong to the heterokont group, are unicellular eukaryotic algae responsible for around 40% of marine primary productivity. The genomes of a centric diatom, Thalassiosira pseudonana, and a pennate diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, that likely diverged around 90 Mya, have recently become available.