PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Florian Schwarz
AU  - Filip Wierzbicki
AU  - Kirsten-André Senti
AU  - Robert Kofler
TI  - Tirant stealthily invaded natural <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em> populations during the last century
AID  - 10.1101/2020.06.10.144378
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.06.10.144378
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/11/2020.06.10.144378.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/11/2020.06.10.144378.full
AB  - It was long thought that solely three different transposable elements - the I-element, the P-element and hobo - invaded natural D. melanogaster populations within the last century. By sequencing the ‘living fossils’ of Drosophila research, i.e. D. melanogaster strains sampled from natural populations at different time points, we show that a fourth TE, Tirant, invaded D. melanogaster populations during the past century. Tirant likely spread in D. melanogaster populations around 1938, followed by the I-element, hobo, and, lastly, the P-element. In addition to the recent insertions of the canonical Tirant, D. melanogaster strains harbour degraded Tirant sequences in the heterochromatin which are likely due to an ancient invasion, possibly predating the split of D. melanogaster and D. simulans. In contrast to the I-element, P-element and hobo, we did not find that Tirant induces any hybrid dysgenesis symptoms. This absence of apparent phenotypic effects may explain the late discovery of the Tirant invasion. Recent Tirant insertions were found in all investigated natural populations. Populations from Tasmania carry distinct Tirant sequences, likely due to a founder effect. By investigating the TE composition of natural populations and strains sampled at different time points, insertion site polymorphisms, piRNAs and phenotypic effects, we provide a comprehensive study of a natural TE invasion.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.