RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes

Compared to eukaryotes, repetitive sequences are rare in bacterial genomes and usually do not persist for long. Yet, there is at least one class of persistent prokaryotic mobile genetic elements: REPINs. REPINs are non-autonomous transposable elements replicated by single-copy transposases called RA...

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Main Authors: Fortmann-Grote, Carsten, Irmer, Julia von, Bertels, Frederic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Peer Community In 2023-02-01
Series:Peer Community Journal
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Online Access:https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.244/
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author Fortmann-Grote, Carsten
Irmer, Julia von
Bertels, Frederic
author_facet Fortmann-Grote, Carsten
Irmer, Julia von
Bertels, Frederic
author_sort Fortmann-Grote, Carsten
collection DOAJ
description Compared to eukaryotes, repetitive sequences are rare in bacterial genomes and usually do not persist for long. Yet, there is at least one class of persistent prokaryotic mobile genetic elements: REPINs. REPINs are non-autonomous transposable elements replicated by single-copy transposases called RAYTs. REPIN-RAYT systems are mostly vertically inherited and have persisted in individual bacterial lineages for millions of years. Discovering and analyzing REPIN populations and their corresponding RAYT transposases in bacterial species can be rather laborious, hampering progress in understanding REPIN-RAYT biology and evolution. Here we present RAREFAN, a webservice that identifies REPIN populations and their corresponding RAYT transposase in a given set of bacterial genomes. We demonstrate RAREFAN’s capabilities by analyzing a set of 49 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia genomes, containing nine different REPIN-RAYT systems. We guide the reader through the process of identifying and analyzing REPIN-RAYT systems across S. maltophilia, highlighting erroneous associations between REPIN and RAYTs, and providing solutions on how to find correct associations. RAREFAN enables rapid, large-scale detection of REPINs and RAYTs, and provides insight into the fascinating world of intragenomic sequence populations in bacterial genomes. RAREFAN is available at http://rarefan.evolbio.mpg.de.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2804-3871
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publishDate 2023-02-01
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series Peer Community Journal
spelling doaj-art-c3b6db9d5ba047179ebfd355e6e80d262025-02-07T10:16:49ZengPeer Community InPeer Community Journal2804-38712023-02-01310.24072/pcjournal.24410.24072/pcjournal.244RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomesFortmann-Grote, Carsten0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2579-5546Irmer, Julia von1Bertels, Frederic2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6222-4139Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Microbial Population Biology, Plön, GermanyMax-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Microbial Population Biology, Plön, GermanyMax-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Microbial Population Biology, Plön, GermanyCompared to eukaryotes, repetitive sequences are rare in bacterial genomes and usually do not persist for long. Yet, there is at least one class of persistent prokaryotic mobile genetic elements: REPINs. REPINs are non-autonomous transposable elements replicated by single-copy transposases called RAYTs. REPIN-RAYT systems are mostly vertically inherited and have persisted in individual bacterial lineages for millions of years. Discovering and analyzing REPIN populations and their corresponding RAYT transposases in bacterial species can be rather laborious, hampering progress in understanding REPIN-RAYT biology and evolution. Here we present RAREFAN, a webservice that identifies REPIN populations and their corresponding RAYT transposase in a given set of bacterial genomes. We demonstrate RAREFAN’s capabilities by analyzing a set of 49 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia genomes, containing nine different REPIN-RAYT systems. We guide the reader through the process of identifying and analyzing REPIN-RAYT systems across S. maltophilia, highlighting erroneous associations between REPIN and RAYTs, and providing solutions on how to find correct associations. RAREFAN enables rapid, large-scale detection of REPINs and RAYTs, and provides insight into the fascinating world of intragenomic sequence populations in bacterial genomes. RAREFAN is available at http://rarefan.evolbio.mpg.de. https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.244/sequence analysis, mobile genetic elements, bacterial genomes, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
spellingShingle Fortmann-Grote, Carsten
Irmer, Julia von
Bertels, Frederic
RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
Peer Community Journal
sequence analysis, mobile genetic elements, bacterial genomes, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
title RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
title_full RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
title_fullStr RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
title_full_unstemmed RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
title_short RAREFAN: A webservice to identify REPINs and RAYTs in bacterial genomes
title_sort rarefan a webservice to identify repins and rayts in bacterial genomes
topic sequence analysis, mobile genetic elements, bacterial genomes, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
url https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.244/
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AT irmerjuliavon rarefanawebservicetoidentifyrepinsandraytsinbacterialgenomes
AT bertelsfrederic rarefanawebservicetoidentifyrepinsandraytsinbacterialgenomes