title: Waves of retrotransposon expansion remodel genome organization and CTCF binding in multiple mammalian lineages.
abstract: CTCF-binding locations represent regulatory sequences that are highly constrained over the course of evolution. To gain insight into how these DNA elements are conserved and spread through the genome, we defined the full spectrum of CTCF-binding sites, including a 33/34-mer motif, and identified over five thousand highly conserved, robust, and tissue-independent CTCF-binding locations by comparing ChIP-seq data from six mammals. Our data indicate that activation of retroelements has produced species-specific expansions of CTCF binding in rodents, dogs, and opossum, which often functionally serve as chromatin and transcriptional insulators. We discovered fossilized repeat elements flanking deeply conserved CTCF-binding regions, indicating that similar retrotransposon expansions occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. Repeat-driven dispersal of CTCF binding is a fundamental, ancient, and still highly active mechanism of genome evolution in mammalian lineages.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Research Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Petra C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Schwalie
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ballester
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kutter
authors.forename: Gordon D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Aileen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flicek
authors.forename: Duncan T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Odom
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000076246:CCCTC-Binding Factor; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018626:Retroelements; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000076246:CCCTC-Binding Factor; C000619697:CTCF protein, human; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D018626:Retroelements; D014157:Transcription Factors