27. Why mobile DNA?
Why mobile DNA has attained such a prominent fraction of so many genomes, particularly those of plants and mammals, remains a puzzling question. It seems that in those genomes, a constant struggle between the host and mobile DNA is continually present. We know that transposable elements have been important drivers of genome evolution. But what evidence is there that transposable elements have contributed function to the individual that could have led to its selection and increased proportion in many genomes?
The opossum genome has a very high fraction (52%) of recognizable transposable element sequence, much of which consists of evolutionarily new elements (Mikkelsen et al., 2007). This fact suggests that creation of new transposable ...
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