Characterization of mariner-like transposons of the mauritiana Subfamily in seven tree aphid species

Mariner-like elements (MLEs) are Class II transposons present in all eukaryotic genomes in which MLEs have been searched for. This article reports the detection of MLEs in seven of the main fruit tree aphid species out of eight species studied. Deleted MLE sequences of 916–919 bp were characterized, using the terminal-inverted repeats (TIRs) of mariner elements belonging to the mauritiana Subfamily as primers. All the sequences detected were deleted copies of full-length elements that included the 3′- and 5′-TIRs but displayed internal deletions affecting Mos1 activity. Networks based on the mtDNA cytochrome oxidase subunit-I (CO-I) and MLE sequences were incongruent, suggesting that mutations in transposon sequences had accumulated before speciation of tree aphid species occurred, and that they have been maintained in this species via vertical transmissions. This is the first evidence of the widespread occurrence of MLEs in aphids.