title: The recent invasion of natural Drosophila simulans populations by the P-element.
abstract: The P-element is one of the best understood eukaryotic transposable elements. It invaded Drosophila melanogaster populations within a few decades but was thought to be absent from close relatives, including Drosophila simulans. Five decades after the spread in D. melanogaster, we provide evidence that the P-element has also invaded D. simulans. P-elements in D. simulans appear to have been acquired recently from D. melanogaster probably via a single horizontal transfer event. Expression data indicate that the P-element is processed in the germ line of D. simulans, and genomic data show an enrichment of P-element insertions in putative origins of replication, similar to that seen in D. melanogaster. This ongoing spread of the P-element in natural populations provides a unique opportunity to understand the dynamics of transposable element spread and the associated piwi-interacting RNAs defense mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kofler
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nolte
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Andrea J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Betancourt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria schlotc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlötterer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005828:Genetics, Population; D049750:Genome, Insect; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA
keywords: Drosophila simulans; P-element; Pool-seq; population genomics; transposable elements