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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (5): 121-133.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2020219

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Genome-wide identification of full-length long-terminal repeat retrotransposons and identification of interrupted genes in Cleistogenes songorica

Yi-meng WANG(), Tian-tian MA, Zi-feng OUYANG, Ji-yu ZHANG()   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems,College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology,Lanzhou 730020,China
  • Received:2020-05-13 Revised:2020-09-21 Online:2021-05-20 Published:2021-04-16
  • Contact: Ji-yu ZHANG

Abstract:

Long-terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) are mobile genetic factors that are an important component of, and are widely distributed across, the plant genome. The genome of Cleistogenes songorica is 543 M in size. In total, 299079 LTR-RTs have been identified in C. songoria, accounting for 26.54% of the total genome. The aim of this study was to identify full-length LTR-RTs in the C. songorica genome and determine when they arose and which genes they interrupt. Based on the whole genome sequence of C. songorica, 845 potential full-length LTR-RTs were identified, of which 410 belong to the Gypsy superfamily and 435 belong to the Copia superfamily. These sequences were subjected to phylogenetic and insertion time analyses. The results of those analyses indicated that many full-length LTR-RTs have been transposed within the last 4 million years. The range of insertion time was relatively short, and the peak period of LTR-RTs insertion was between 1 and 1.5 million years ago. We identified 183 genes that have been interrupted by full-length LTR-RTs in C. songorica, and 145 of them were annotated with Gene Ontology functions. We analyzed the transcript levels of the interrupted genes under different drought stress treatments. Identification of the dynamics of retrotransposons is helpful for understanding the complexities of C. songorica evolution, and lays the foundation for further research and analysis of full-length LTR-RTs in C. songorica.

Key words: Cleistogenes songorica, full length LTR retrotransposons, insertion time, interrupted genes, genome