Research

Though transposons make up a large fraction of almost all eukaryotic genomes, until recently little was known concerning their role in host evolution. Our research has established that transposons can in fact interact or contribute to the host gene repertoire. For example, DNA transposons can acquire gene fragments in a process called transduplication.

Though the vast majority of detectable transduplication events result in pseudogene formation, some appear to be transcribed (non-coding RNA genes) and even rarely be part of novel protein-coding genes. In the latter case, the persistence of host conserve domains within transposons suggests that transduplication events may have profound element-specific selective advantage. Transposons can also abandon their mobile lifestyle and be so-called domesticated by their host.

We are profiling domesticated transposons to pinpoint the genomic signatures of domesticated transposons. Far from being the odd one-off, domestication of transposons appears to be frequent events.

To uncover their elusive functional role, we are characterized the suites of domesticated transposons from several model plant and other eukaryotic species. These results not only suggest they have a function and are bona fide “host genes” but also that they play a fundamentally important role in development and evolution.

We are using cutting-edge genomics protocols to uncover functionally and agronomically important regions within the so-called non-coding regions of plant genomes.

To learn more about this CA$4.5M Genome Canada/Quebec project, please visit http://biology.mcgill.ca/vegi/index.html.

If you are interested in learning more about our research program or joining our laboratory as a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Lab Members

Publications

• Elrouby, N. and Bureau, T. (2010) Bs1, a new chimeric gene formed by retrotransposon-mediated exon shuffling in maize. Plant Physiology 153:1413-1424.
• McNally, K., Childs, K., Bohnert, R., Davidson, R. Zhao, K., Ulat, V., Zeller, G., Clark, R., Hoen, D., Bureau, T., Stokowski, R., Ballinger, D., Frazer, K., Cox, D., Padhukasahasram, B., Bustamante, C., Weigel, D., Mackill, D., Bruskiewich, R., Rätsch, G., Buell, C., Leung, H., and Leach, J. (2009) Genomewide SNP variation reveals relationships among landraces and modern varieties of rice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106:12273-12278.
• Kwon, S.-J., Park, K.C., Son, J.-H., Bureau, T., Park, C.-H. and Kim, N.-S. (2009) Sequence diversity of a domesticated transposase gene, MUG1, in Oryza species. Molecules and Cells 27:459-465.
• Hoen, D. and Bureau, T. as part of the Rice Annotation Project (2008) The Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB): 2008 update. Nucleic Acids Research 36:1028-1033.
• Kim, N.-S., Park, K.-C., Kwon, S.-J., Kim, P.-H and Bureau, T. (2008) Gene structure dynamics and divergence of the polygalacturonase gene family of plants and fungus. Genome 51: 30-40.
• Hoen, D. and Bureau, T. as part of the Rice Annotation Project (2007) Curated Genome Annotation of Oryza sativa ssp. Japonica and Comparative Genome Analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome Research 17:175-183.
• Hoen, D., Park, K.-C., Elrouby, N., Yu, Z., Mohabir, N., Cowan, R. and Bureau, T. (2006) Transposon-mediated expansion and diversification of a family of ULP-like genes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23:1254-1268.
• Cowan, R., Hoen, D., Schoen, D. and Bureau, T. (2005) MUSTANG is a novel family of domesticated transposase genes found in diverse angiosperms. Molecular Biology and Evolution 22:2084-2089.
• Juretic, N., Hoen, D., Huynh, M., Harrison, P. and Bureau, T. (2005) The evolutionary fate of MULE-mediated duplications of host gene fragments in rice. Genome Research 15: 1292-1297. Rated “9.0” or exceptional by the Faculty of 1000.
• IRGSP (Transposon section: Juretic, N., Hoen, D., Wright, S., Bruskiewich, R. and Bureau, T.) (2005) The map-based sequence of the rice genome. Nature 436: 793-800.
• MacKenzie, J., Saade, F., Le, Q.-H., Bureau, T., and Schoen, D. (2005) Effects of UV-B exposure on rates of genomic mutation and transposon mobility in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics 171:715-723.
• Juretic, N., Bureau, T., and Bruskiewich, R. (2004) Transposable element annotation of the rice genome. Bioinformatics 20: 155-160.
• Le, Q.-H. and Bureau, T. (2004) Prediction and quality assessment of Transposon Insertion Display data. BioTechniques 36:222-224.
• Wright, S., Agrawal, N. and Bureau, T. (2003) Effects of recombination and gene density on transposable element distributions in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome Research 13:1887-1903.
• Turcotte, K. and Bureau, T. (2002) The Stowaway family of plant transposons is part of the IS630/Tc1/Mariner superfamily. Genome 45: 82-90.
• Bevan, M., Mayer, K., White, O., Eisen J., Preuss, D., Bureau, T., Salzberg, S. and Mewes, H.-W. (2001) Sequence and analysis of the Arabidopsis genome. Current Opinions in Plant Biology 4: 105-110.
• Turcotte, K., Srinivasan, S., and Bureau, T. (2001) Survey of transposable elements from rice genomic sequences. Plant Journal 25:169-179.
• Le, Q.-H., Turcotte, K. and Bureau, T. (2001) Tc8, a member of the IS4/Tourist transposon superfamily in C. elegans. Genetics 158:1081-1088.
• Wright, S., Le, Q.-H., Schoen, D. and Bureau, T. (2001) Population dynamics of an Ac-like transposable element in self- and cross-pollinating Arabidopsis. Genetics 158:1279-1288.
• Witte, C.-P., Le, Q.-H., Bureau, T., and Kumar, A. (2001) Terminal-repeat Retrotransposons in Miniature (TRIM) are involved in restructuring the host-plant genome. PNAS (USA) 98:13778-13783.
• Elrouby, N. and Bureau, T. (2001) A novel hybrid ORF formed by multiple gene transductions by a plant LTR retroelement. Journal of Biological Chemistry 276:41963-41968.
• Chang, R., O’Donoughue, L. and Bureau, T. (2001) Inter-MITE Polymorphisms (IMP): A high throughput transposon-based genome mapping and fingerprinting approach. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 102:773-778.
• Le, Q.-H., Wright, S., Yu, Z. and Bureau, T. (2000) Transposon discovery in Arabidopsis thaliana. PNAS (USA) 97: 7376-7381.
• AGI (Transposon section: Le, Q.-H., Agrawal, N., Lagault, B., Yu, Z., Martinessan, R. and Bureau, T.) (2000) Analysis of the genome of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 408: 796-815.
• Elrouby, N. and Bureau, T. (2000) Molecular characterization of the Abp1 5’-flanking region in maize and the teosintes. Plant Physiology 124:369-377.
• Yu, Z. Wright, S. and Bureau, T. (2000) Mutator-Like Elements (MULEs) in Arabidopsis thaliana: Structure, diversity and evolution. Genetics 156:2019-2031.
• Le, Q.-H., Wright, S., Yu, Z. and Bureau, T. (2000) Transposon discovery in Arabidopsis thaliana. PNAS (USA) 97: 7376-7381.