AUTHOR=Keidar-Friedman Danielle , Bariah Inbar , Domb Katherine , Kashkush Khalil 

TITLE=The Evolutionary Dynamics of a Novel Miniature Transposable Element in the Wheat Genome

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.01173

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.01173

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The discovery of <italic>Mariam</italic>, a wheat-unique miniature transposable element family, was reported in our previous study. We have also shown the possible impact of <italic>Mariam</italic> insertions on the expression of wheat genes. However, the evolutionary dynamics of <italic>Mariam</italic> was not studied in detail. In this study, we have assessed the insertion sites of <italic>Mariam</italic> family in different wheat species. <italic>In-silico</italic> analysis of <italic>Mariam</italic> insertions has allowed the discovery of two different sequence versions of <italic>Mariam</italic>, and that <italic>Mariam</italic> might have been recently active in wild emmer wheat genome (<italic>T. turgidum</italic> ssp <italic>diccocoides</italic>). In addition, the analysis of <italic>Mariam</italic> insertional polymorphism has facilitated the discovery of large genomic rearrangement events, such as deletions and introgressions in the wheat genome. The dynamics of <italic>Mariam</italic> family sheds light on the evolution of wheat.</p>