Genes encoding reverse transcriptases (RTs) are found in most eukaryotes, often
as a component of retrotransposons, as well as in retroviruses and in
prokaryotic retroelements. We investigated the abundance, classification and
transcriptional status of RTs based on Tara Oceans marine metagenomes
and metatranscriptomes encompassing a wide organism size range. Our analyses
revealed that RTs predominate large-size fraction metagenomes
(>5 μm), where they reached a maximum of 13.5% of the total
gene abundance. Metagenomic RTs were widely distributed across the phylogeny of
known RTs, but many belonged to previously uncharacterized clades.
Metatranscriptomic RTs showed distinct abundance patterns across samples
compared with metagenomic RTs. The relative abundances of viral and bacterial
RTs among identified RT sequences were higher in metatranscriptomes than in
metagenomes and these sequences were detected in all metatranscriptome size
fractions. Overall, these observations suggest an active proliferation of
various RT-assisted elements, which could be involved in genome evolution or
adaptive processes of plankton assemblage.
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