Abstrato

The Potential Link between Mobile DNA and the Invasiveness of the Species

Valeria Specchia, Sally Janzen, Gabriele Marini and Maurizio Pinna

The environment and its stressors have an effect on the genome structure of species, affecting their adaptation and evolution. Environmental stresses significantly increase the genetic variability of a population and thus lay the basis for changes in fitness and unbalances. The movement of transposable elements represents a peculiar source of this variability in response to environmental changes and anthropogenic impacts. The relationship between stress and transposition has been exemplified in studies on different model organisms. Interestingly, mutational processes and genetic variation generated from transposable elements are emerging as potential agents of rapid adaptation of invasive species. In this research, we reviewed the role of transposable elements to reshape genomes with particular regards to RNAi processes in their control and potential relationship with the invasiveness of species.