We are a small research lab working on plant chromosomes with emphasis on legumes at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Türkiye. Our research is primarily driven by curiosity rather than the availability of research funding and performed by exceptionally dedicated and intelligent students.

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are dispersed DNA transposon elements in the genome of eukaryotes. We discovered a novel MITE element called GftoMITE1 integrated into the centromere-specific histone H3 (CenH3) gene in the Glycine falcata (Figure 1). 

We identified a total of ~460 MITEs distributed between 10 and 33 copies in each of 20 chromosomes of G. falcata. Their distribution has been mostly in the subtelomere regions, possibly favoring the gene-rich regions along the chromosomes. To better understand the GftoMITE1 dynamics and presence in other Glycine species,  we extended our analysis to include annual and perennial, domesticated and wild, diploid and polyploid Glycine species (Figure 2). Interestingly, GftoMITE1 shows genome-specific distribution in wild perennial soybean species but is absent in cultivated soybean and its progenitor species. While diploid wild species harbor their own genome-specific GftoMITE1 homologs, polyploids contain both homologs derived from the ancestral genomes and preserved in the extant genomes after the polyploidization event. 

Furthermore, we think this discovery may have potential implications for gene regulation and soybean breeding as an effective genetic marker for germplasm utilization in the future. The remaining questions may be whether a) our findings are truly valid in a wider genome coverage, any point we missed b) if true, other MITE families also show similar genome specificity in Glycine species, c) more importantly, other organisms in different taxa show same level of specific distribution at species level in comparison to domesticated and wild relatives, even with polyploid members. So, we now have more questions than the answers with our publication.

Our research is published in Genes & Genomics Special Issue—Retrotransposons and DNA Transposons: Insights into Evolutionary Genomics—organized by Editor Prof. Kyudong Han. If you want to read our work, follow the link above.  

Please feel free to contact me at altek2@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments about the work.