COEVOL Multi-Scale Coevolution
Evolutionary Genetics of Interactions Group
Boulesteix Matthieu
Maître de conférences
UCBL
Research interests
Transposable elements (TEs) are repeated sequences of DNA that populate the genome of every single species and are able to replicate and insert new copies of themselves into the genome they inhabit. As they are devoid of any obvious function for their host organism and induce mutations that are most of the time deleterious, TEs are often seen as genomic parasites.
The goal of my research is to understand the factors that determine the proliferation of these parasites and the ins and outs of the cohabitation between genes and TEs within genomes.
Current projects
Invasive species: TEs dynamics and contribution to adaptation
Invasive species constitute an ideal model to study real-time evolution. With regard to TEs they provide a way to understand how demographic factors (range expansions accompanied by founder effects) can influence TEs dynamics. In addition while TEs are deleterious in general several spectacular examples of TE-based adaptations have been described. Invasive species can thus be used to study the contribution of TEs to the adaptation of populations to new environments. We have been able to show in Drosophila suzukii, an invasive species in Europe and the United States, that the invasive process was associated with an increase of the genomes' TE load, which seems to be linked to bottlenecks that accompany the invasion (Mérel et al. 2021). We also work with the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, an invasive species from Asia, and described its repeatome (Goubert et al. 2015). We showed that in this species several insertions segregate at high frequencies in Europe which suggests that they might be involved in the adaptation of this mosquito to temperate environments (Goubert et al. 2017). We are currently extending this study through the comparison of numerous complete genomes from native and invasive populations of this species (ANR funded project MosquiTEs, PI M Boulesteix) to get a better understanding of the contribution of TEs in the adaptive process.
Interactions between viral infections and transposition rates
Natural selection has enabled the emergence of defense systems in genomes allowing them to protect themselves against the deleterious effects of TEs. In many organisms small RNAs (piRNAs and siRNAs) are central to these defense system. Defense against viruses is also ensured thanks to small RNAs (siRNAs in Drosophila, piRNAs and siRNAs in mosquitoes). It is thus tempting to ask whether viral infections could interfere with TEs control and conversely. This question is currently addressed by Chloé Garambois during her PhD (supervision: Marie Fablet and Matthieu Boulesteix).
Publications
Display of 1 to 29 publications on 29 in total
The transposable element-rich genome of the cereal pest Sitophilus oryzae
Preprint
see the publicationEffects of Arboviral Infections on Transposable Element Transcript Levels in Aedes aegypti
Genome Biology and Evolution . 16 ( 5 ) : evae092
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae092
Journal article
see the publicationHuman-aided dispersal and population bottlenecks facilitate parasitism escape in the most invasive mosquito species
PNAS Nexus . 3 ( 5 ) : 175
Journal article
see the publicationThe assembly of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae is dominated by transposable elements and shades light on the evolution of endosymbiosis in a major crop pest.
Arthropod Genomics Symposium 2022 .
Conference paper
see the publicationTransposable element dynamics in the host-bacteria association of the cereal weevil Sitophilus oryzae
Mobile DNA 2021 .
Poster
see the publicationThe Worldwide Invasion of Drosophila suzukii Is Accompanied by a Large Increase of Transposable Element Load and a Small Number of Putatively Adaptive Insertions
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 38 ( 10 ) : 4252-4267
Journal article
see the publicationThe transposable element-rich genome of the cereal pest Sitophilus oryzae
BMC Biology . 19 ( 1 ) : 241
Journal article
see the publicationA transposon story : from TE content to TE dynamic invasion of Drosophila genomes using the single-molecule sequencing technology from Oxford Nanopore
Cells . 9 ( 8 ) : 1776
DOI: 10.3390/cells9081776
Journal article
see the publicationA behavior-manipulating virus relative as a source of adaptive genes for Drosophila parasitoids
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 37 ( 10 ) : 2791-2807
Journal article
see the publicationTransposable element dynamics in Sitophilus oryzae
Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Regional Workshop on Microbiome .
Poster
see the publicationTransposable Element Dynamics in an Invasive Species
Congrès National des Éléments Transposables (CNET 2018) .
Conference paper
see the publicationEvaluating the essentiality of the primary endosymbiont of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae through genome analysis
VI Meeting of the Spanish Society for Evolutionary Biology (SESBE) .
Poster
see the publicationA behavior-manipulating virus relative as a source of adaptive genes for parasitoid wasps
Preprint
see the publicationHigh-Throughput Sequencing of Transposable Element Insertions Suggests Adaptive Evolution of the Invasive Asian Tiger Mosquito Towards Temperate Environments
Molecular Ecology . 26 ( 15 ) : 1-14
DOI: 10.1111/mec.14184
Journal article
see the publicationPopulation genetics of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, an invasive vector of human diseases
Heredity . 117 ( 3 ) : 125-34
DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2016.35
Journal article
see the publicationThe draft genome sequence of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae as a model to explore the host-symbiont interactions in a nascent stage of endosymbiosis
Journées Ouvertes Biologie Informatique Mathématiques (JOBIM) .
Poster
see the publicationDe novo assembly and annotation of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) repeatome with dnaPipeTE from raw genomic reads and comparative analysis with the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti).
Genome Biology and Evolution . 7 ( 4 ) : 1192-205
Journal article
see the publicationDe novo assembly and annotation of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) repeatome with dnaPipeTE from raw genomic reads and comparative analysis with the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti)
Genome Biology and Evolution . 7 ( 4 ) : 1192-1205
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evv050
Journal article
see the publicationA comparative analysis of the amounts and dynamics of transposable elements in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity . 113 : 83-86
Journal article
see the publicationIsolation and gene flow: inferring the speciation history of European house mice
Molecular Ecology . 20 ( 24 ) : 5248-5264
Journal article
see the publicationIsolation and gene flow: inferring the speciation history of European house mice
Molecular ecology . 20 : 5248-5264
Journal article
see the publicationHow sympatric is speciation in the Howea palms of Lord Howe Island ?
Molecular Ecology . 18 : 3629-3638
Journal article
see the publicationHigh Genetic Differentiation between the M and S Molecular Forms of Anopheles gambiae in Africa
PLoS ONE . 3 : 1-7
Journal article
see the publicationInsertion polymorphism of transposable elements and population structure of Anopheles gambiae M and S molecular forms in Cameroon
Molecular Ecology . 16 : 441-452
Journal article
see the publicationDifferences in genome size between closely related species: the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup.
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 23 ( 1 ) : 162-7
Journal article
see the publicationDifferences in Genome Size Between Closely Related Species : The Drosophila melanogaster Species Subgroup
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 23 : 162-167
Journal article
see the publicationDifferences in genom size between closely related species : the drosophila melanogaster species subgroup.
Molecular Biology and Evolution . ( 23 ) : 162-167
Journal article
see the publicationTransposable elements in mosquitoes
Cytogenetics and Genome Research . 110 : 500--509
Journal article
see the publication