The first discovery of Tc1 transposons in yeast

Jia Chang; Guangyou Duan; Wenjing Li; Tung On Yau; Chang Liu; Jianlin Cui; Huaijun Xue; Wenjun Bu; Yanping Hu; Shan Gao

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1141495

The first discovery of Tc1 transposons in yeast

Front Microbiol. 2023 Feb 16:14:1141495. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1141495. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jia Chang¹, Guangyou Duan², Wenjing Li^{3

4}, Tung On Yau⁵, Chang Liu⁶, Jianlin Cui⁶, Huaijun Xue¹, Wenjun Bu¹, Yanping Hu³, Shan Gao¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
² School of Life Sciences, Qilu Normal University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
³ Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Biological Resources, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, China.
⁵ Department of Rural Land Use, Scotland's Rural College, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
⁶ School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.

Abstract

Background: Identification of transposons without close homologs is still a difficult task. IS630/Tc1/mariner transposons, classified into a superfamily, are probably the most widespread DNA transposons in nature. Tc1/mariner transposons have been discovered in animals, plants, and filamentous fungi, however, not in yeast.

Results: In the present study, we report the discovery of two intact Tc1 transposons in yeast and filamentous fungi, respectively. The first one, named Tc1-OP1 (DD40E), represents Tc1 transposons in Ogataea parapolymorpha. The second one, named Tc1-MP1 (DD34E), represents Tc1 transposons in the Rhizopodaceae and Mucoraceae families. As a homolog of Tc1-OP1 and Tc1-MP1, IS630-AB1 (DD34E) was discovered as an IS630 transposon in Acinetobacter spp.

Conclusion: Tc1-OP1 is not only the first reported Tc1 transposon in yeast, but also the first reported nonclassical Tc1 transposon. Tc1-OP1 is the largest of IS630/Tc1/mariner transposons reported to date and significantly different from others. Notably, Tc1-OP1 encodes a serine-rich domain and a transposase, extending the current knowledge of Tc1 transposons. The phylogenetic relationships of Tc1-OP1, Tc1-MP1 and IS630-AB1 indicated that these transposons had evolved from a common ancestor. Tc1-OP1, Tc1-MP1 and IS630-AB1 can be used as reference sequences to facilitate the identification of IS630/Tc1/mariner transposons. More Tc1/mariner transposons will be identified in yeast, following our discovery.

Keywords: IS630; long terminal repeat; methylotrophic yeast; terminal inverted repeat; transposase.