Abstract
We have formulated a very general mathematical model to analyze the evolution of transposable genetic elements in prokaryotic populations. Transposable genetic elements are DNA sequences able to replicate and insert copies of themselves at new locations in the genome. This work characterizes the equilibrium distribution of copy number under the influence of copy number-dependent selection, transposition and deletion. Our principal results concern the equilibrium distribution of copy number in response to various selective regimes. For particular transposition patterns (e.g. unregulated transposition or copy number-dependent transposition), equilibrium distributions are calculated numerically for a variety of specific selection patterns. Selection is quantified through specification of the expected number of offspring for individuals of each type, which is generally a non-increasing function of copy number, in accord with the usual evolutionary speculations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asmussen, S., Hering, H.: Branching Processes. Boston Basel Stuttgart: Birkhäuser 1983
Athreya, K. B., Ney, P. E.: Branching Processes. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer 1972
Brookfield, J. F. Y.: Interspersed repetitive DNA sequences are unlikely to be parasitic. J. Theor. Biol. 92, 281–299 (1982)
Brookfield, J. F. Y.: A model for DNA sequence evolution within transposable element families. Genetics 112, 396–407 (1986)
Campbell, A.: Some general questions about movable elements and their implications. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 45, 1–10 (1981)
Campbell, A.: Transposons and their evolutionary significance. In: Nei, M., Koehn, R. K. (eds.) Evolution of Genes and Proteins, pp. 258–279. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc. 1983
Cavalier-Smith, T.: How selfish is DNA? Nature 285, 617–618 (1980)
Chao, L., McBroom, S. M.: Evolution of transposable elements: An IS10 insertion increases fitness in Escherichia coli. Mol. Biol. Evol. 2, 359–369 (1985)
Chao, L., Vargas, C., Spear, B. B., Cox, E. C.: Transposable elements as mutator genes in evolution. Nature 303, 633–635 (1983)
Charlesworth, B.: Genetic divergence between transposable elements. Genet. Res. 48, 111–118 (1986)
Charlesworth, B., Charlesworth, D.: The population dynamics of transposable elements. Genet. Res. 42, 1–27 (1983)
Charlesworth, B., Langley, C. H.: The evolution of self-regulated transposition of transposable elements. Genetics 112, 359–383 (1986)
Condit, R.: The evolution of transposable elements: conditions for establishment in bacterial populations. Evolution 44, 347–359 (1990)
Condit, R., Stewart, F. M., Levin, B. R.: The population biology of bacterial transposons: a priori conditions for maintenance as parasitic DNA. Am. Nat. 132, 129–147 (1988)
Cox, E. C.: Bacterial mutator genes and control of spontaneous mutation. Annu. Rev. Genet. 10, 135–156 (1976)
Davidson, E. H., Britten, R. J.: Regulation of gene expression: possible role of repetitive sequences. Science 204, 1052–1059 (1979)
Doolittle, W. F., Sapienza, C.: Selfish genes, the phenotype paradigm and genome evolution. Nature 284, 601–604 (1980)
Dover, G.: Ignorant DNA? Nature 285, 618–620 (1980)
Dover, G., Doolittle, W. F.: Modes of genome evolution. Nature 288, 646–647 (1980)
Engels, W. R.: Hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila, and the stochastic loss hypothesis. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 45, 561–566 (1981)
Ginzburg, L. R., Bingham, P. M., Yoo, S.: On the theory of speciation induced by transposable elements. Genetics 107, 331–341 (1984)
Harris, T. E.: The Theory of Branching Processes. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer 1963
Hartl, D. L., Dykhuizen, D. E., Miller, R. D., Green, L., de Framond, J.: Transposable element IS50 improves growth rate of E. coli cells without transposition. Cell 35, 503–510 (1983)
Hartl, D. L., Sawyer, S. A.: Why do unrelated insertion sequences occur together in the genome of Escherichia coli? Genetica 118, 537–541 (1988)
Hickey, D. A.: Selfish DNA: A sexually transmitted nuclear parasite. Genetics 101, 519–531(1982)
Hudson, R. R., Kaplan, N. L.: On the divergence of members of a transposable element family. J. Math. Biol. 24, 207–215 (1986)
Jagers, P.: Branching Processes with Biological Applications. Chichester London New York Sydney Toronto: Wiley 1975
Jain, H. K.: Incidental DNA. Nature 288, 647–648 (1980)
Joffe, A., Ney, P.: Branching Processes. New York: Dekker 1978
Johnson, R. C., Reznikoff, W. S.: Copy number control of TN5 transposition. Genetics 107, 9–18 (1984)
Kaplan, N., Darden, T., Langley, C. H.: Evolution and extinction of transposable elements in Mendelian populations. Genetics 109, 459–480 (1985)
Kaplan, N. L., Brookfield, J. F. Y.: The effect of homozygosity of selective differences between sites of transposable elements. Theor. Popul. Biol. 23, 273–280 (1983)
Kleckner, N.: Transposable elements in prokaryotes. Annu. Rev. Genet. 15, 341–404 (1981)
Langley, C. H., Brookfield, J. F. Y., Kaplan, N.: Transposable elements in Mendelian populations. I. A Theory. Genetics 104, 457–471 (1983)
Langley, C. H., Montgomery, E., Hudson, R., Kaplan, N., Charlesworth, B.: On the role of unequal exchange in the containment of transposable element copy number. Genet. Res. 52, 223–236 (1988)
Mode, C. J.: Multitype Branching Processes. New York: American Elsevier 1971
Moody, M. E.: A branching process model for the evolution of transposable elements. J. Math. Biol. 26, 347–357 (1988)
Nanjundiah, V.: Transposable element copy number and stable polymorphisms. J. Genet. 64, 127–134 (1985)
Ohta, T.: A model of duplicative transposition and gene conversion for repetitive DNA families. Genetics 110, 513–524 (1985)
Ohta, T.: Population genetics of an expanding family of mobile genetic elements. Genetics 113, 145–159 (1986)
Ohta, T.: Population genetics of selfish DNA. Nature 292, 648–649 (1981)
Ohta, T.: Population genetics of transposable elements. IMA J. Math. Appl. Med. Biol. 1, 17–29 (1984)
Ohta, T.: Theoretical study on the accumulation of selfish DNA. Genet. Res. 41, 1–15 (1983)
Ohta, T., Kimura, M.: Some calculations on the amount of selfish DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78, 1129–1132 (1981)
Orgel, L. E., Crick, F. H.: Selfish DNA: the ultimate parasite. Nature 284, 604–607 (1980)
Orgel, L. E., Crick, F. H., Sapienza, C.: Selfish DNA. Nature 288, 645–646 (1980)
Reid, R. A.: Selfish DNA in “Petite” mutants. Nature 285, 620 (1980)
Rose, M. R.: The contagion mechanism for the origin of sex. J. Theor. Biol. 101, 137–146 (1983)
Rose, M. R., Doolittle, W. F.: Molecular biological mechanisms of speciation. Science 220, 157–161 (1983)
Rubin, G. M., Kidwell, M. G., Bingham, P. M.: The molecular basis of P-M hybrid dysgenesis: The nature of induced mutations. Cell 29, 987–994 (1982)
Sapienza, C., Doolittle, W. F.: Genes are things you have whether you want them or not. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 45, 177–182 (1981)
Sawyer, S., Hartl, D.: Distribution of transposable elements in prokaryotes. Theor. Popul. Biol. 30, 1–16 (1986)
Sevast'yanov, B. A.: Vetvyaščiesya Processy. Moscow: Mir 1971
Shapiro, J. A.: Mobile Genetic Elements. New York: Academic Press 1983
Slatkin, M.: Genetic differentiation of transposable elements under mutation and unbiased gene conversion. Genetics 110, 145–158 (1985)
Smith, T. F.: Occam's razor. Nature 285, 620 (1980)
Stanley, S. M.: A theory of evolution above the species level. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 646–650 (1975)
Syvanen, M.: The evolutionary implications of mobile genetic elements. Annu. Rev. Genet. 18, 271–293 (1984)
Uyenoyama, M. K.: Quantitative models of hybrid dysgenesis: Rapid evolution under transposition, extrachromosomal inheritance, and fertility selection. Theor. Popul. Biol. 27, 176–201 (1985)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Basten, C.J., Moody, M.E. A branching-process model for the evolution of transposable elements incorporating selection. J. Math. Biol. 29, 743–761 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160190
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160190