Useful parasites: the evolutionary biology and biotechnology applications of transposable elements

Transposable elements usually comprise the most abundant nongenic fraction of eukaryotic genomes. Because of their capacity to selfreplicate and to induce a wide range of mutations, transposable elements have long been considered as ‘parasitic’ or ‘selfish’. Today, we recognize that the findings about genomic changes affected by transposable elements have considerably altered our view of the ways in which genomes evolve and work. Numerous studies have provided evidences that mobile elements have the potential to act as agents of evolution by increasing, rearranging and diversifying the genetic repertoire of their hosts. With large-scale sequencing becoming increasingly available, more and more scientists come across transposable element sequences in their data. I will provide examples that transposable elements, although having signatures of ‘selfish’ DNA, play a significant biological role in the maintainance of genome integrity and providing novel regulatoty networks. These features, along with the transpositional and mutagenic capacity to produce a raw genetic diversity, make the genome mobile fraction, a key player in species adaptation and microevolution. The last but not least, transposable elements stand as informative DNA markers that may complement other conventional DNA markers. Altogether, transposable elements represent a promising, but still largely unexplored research niche and deserve to be included into the agenda of molecular ecologists, evolutionary geneticists, conservation biologists and plant breeders.