Landscapes of transposable elements inApisspecies by meta-analysis

Abstract

The transposable element (TE) mariner is a class II TE that moves within a host genome in a “copy and paste style” manner. Mariner and mariner-like elements (MLEs) are distributed in various species and their sequences are highly diverse; therefore, difficulties have been associated with the classification of these elements. A few TE in the genomes of Apis species mainly consist of mariner and MLE. Detailed classifications are needed to obtain a clearer understanding of Apis MLEs, particularly their movement and horizontal transfer. In the present study, MLEs were detected in the genomes of six Apis species using RepeatMasker. The MLEs were classified into 31 Dromar classes. In this classification, the MLEs in the Apis mellifera genome were classified into the 18 Dromar classes consisting of all five subfamilies, and the MLEs in other Apis species were classified into the Dromar classes from only mauritiana and mellifera subfamilies, suggesting the potential utilization of this classification in the analysis of TEs. A phylogenetic analysis was performed on each Dromar class, and the results obtained suggested that some A. mellifera MLEs invaded via horizontal transfer.