Evolution of Einkorn wheat centromeres is driven by the mutualistic interplay of two LTR retrotransposons

by Matthias Heuberger, Dal-Hoe Koo, Hanin Ibrahim Ahmed, Vijay K. Tiwari, Michael Abrouk, Jesse Poland, Simon G. Krattinger & Thomas Wicker
Scientific Research Year: 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13100-024-00326-9

Abstract

Centromere function is highly conserved across eukaryotes, but the underlying centromeric DNA sequences vary dramatically between species. Centromeres often contain a high proportion of repetitive DNA, such as tandem repeats and/or transposable elements (TEs). Einkorn wheat centromeres lack tandem repeat arrays and are instead composed mostly of the two long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon families RLG_Cereba and RLG_Quinta which specifically insert in centromeres. However, it is poorly understood how these two TE families relate to each other and if and how they contribute to centromere function and evolution.

Keywords

Centromere evolution Transposable element population genetics Centromere stability