TY - JOUR T1 - Role of transposable elements in trypanosomatids JF - Microbes and InfectionMicrobes and Infection Y1 - 2008 A1 - Bringaud, Frederic A1 - Ghedin, Elodie A1 - Najib M. El‐Sayed A1 - Papadopoulou, Barbara KW - Cellular function KW - Domestication KW - Evolution KW - Gene expression KW - Leishmania KW - Regulation of mRNA stability KW - Retroposon KW - Transposable element KW - Trypanosoma AB - Transposable elements constitute 2-5% of the genome content in trypanosomatid parasites. Some of them are involved in critical cellular functions, such as the regulation of gene expression in Leishmania spp. In this review, we highlight the remarkable role extinct transposable elements can play as the source of potential new functions. VL - 10 SN - 1286-4579 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Evolution of non-LTR retrotransposons in the trypanosomatid genomes: Leishmania major has lost the active elements JF - Molecular and Biochemical ParasitologyMolecular and Biochemical Parasitology Y1 - 2006 A1 - Bringaud, Frederic A1 - Ghedin, Elodie A1 - Blandin, Gaëlle A1 - Bartholomeu, Daniella C. A1 - Caler, Elisabet A1 - Levin, Mariano J. A1 - Baltz, Théo A1 - Najib M. El‐Sayed KW - Degenerate retroelement KW - Evolution KW - Ingi KW - L1Tc KW - Leishmania major KW - Non-LTR retrotransposon KW - Retroposon KW - Trypanosoma brucei KW - Trypanosoma cruzi AB - The ingi and L1Tc non-LTR retrotransposons - which constitute the ingi clade - are abundant in the genome of the trypanosomatid species Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi, respectively. The corresponding retroelements, however, are not present in the genome of a closely related trypanosomatid, Leishmania major. To study the evolution of non-LTR retrotransposons in trypanosomatids, we have analyzed all ingi/L1Tc elements and highly degenerate ingi/L1Tc-related sequences identified in the recently completed T. brucei, T. cruzi and L. major genomes. The coding sequences of 242 degenerate ingi/L1Tc-related elements (DIREs) in all three genomes were reconstituted by removing the numerous frame shifts. Three independent phylogenetic analyses conducted on the conserved domains encoded by these elements show that all DIREs, including the 52 L. major DIREs, form a monophyletic group belonging to the ingi clade. This indicates that the trypanosomatid ancestor contained active mobile elements that have been retained in the Trypanosoma species, but were lost from L. major genome, where only remnants (DIRE) are detectable. All 242 DIREs analyzed group together according to their species origin with the exception of 11 T. cruzi DIREs which are close to the T. brucei ingi/DIRE families. Considering the absence of known horizontal transfer between the African T. brucei and the South-American T. cruzi, this suggests that this group of elements evolved at a lower rate when compared to the other trypanosomatid elements. Interestingly, the only nucleotide sequence conserved between ingi and L1Tc (the first 79 residues) is also present at the 5'-extremity of all the full length DIREs and suggests a possible role for this conserved motif, as well as for DIREs. VL - 145 SN - 0166-6851 ER -