Abstract
The genomes of nearly all organisms contain mobile DNA sequences known as transposable elements that can be thought of as selfish intragenomic parasites. As for other parasites, the demographic history of the host species is expected to influence the ecology and evolution of transposable elements within genomes. Surprisingly little work has been conducted to address the question of how host demography affects transposable element evolution. The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model system to test the impact of changes in host demographic history on transposable element dynamics, since this species is a both a model system for transposable element biology and is known to have recently colonised worldwide habitats from Africa. We aim to test the hypothesis that the recent expansion of the D. melanogaster species range into Europe from Africa has been accompanied by an increase in transposable element activity. Investigating how host demography influences transposable elements dynamics has timely relevance for understanding the molecular and adaptive responses of animal genomes to demographic changes caused by global climate change.
United Kingdom