Main description:

Transposable elements are short lengths of DNA with the capacity to move between different points within a genome. This process can affect the function of genes at or near the insertion site.

The present book gives an overview of the impact of transposable elements on plant genomes and explains how to recognize and study transposable elements, e.g. by using state-of-the-art strategies like "new generation sequencing." Moreover, the impact of transposable elements on plant genome structure and function is reviewed in detail, and also illustrated in examples and case studies.

The book is intended both for readers familiar with the field and for newcomers. With large-scale sequencing becoming increasingly available, more and more people will come across transposable element sequences in their data, and this volume will hopefully help to convince them that they are not just "junk DNA."

Contents:

So many repeats and so little time - How to classify transposable elements.- Transposable element annotation in completely sequenced eukaryote genomes.- Using nextgen sequencing data to investigate genome size variation and transposable element content.- Genome-wide analysis of transposition using Next Generation .-Sequencing technologies.- Hitching a ride: Non-autonomous retrotransposons and parasitism as a lifestyle .- Plant endogenous retroviruses? A case of mysterious ORFs

MITEs, miniature elements with a major role in plant genome evolution.- Glue for jumping elements: Epigenetic means for controlling transposable elements in plants.-

Responses of transposable elements to polyploidy.- Noise or symphony: comparative evolutionary analysis of sugarcane transposable elements with other grasses .- Helitron proliferation and gene-fragment capture.- Transposable Element exaptation in plants.- SINE exaptation as cellular regulators occurred numerous times during eukaryote evolution.- LTR retrotransposons as Controlling Elements of genome function .- Rider transposon insertion and phenotypic change in tomato.- Retrotransposons and the eternal leaves.