In celebration of Transposon Day, Mobile DNA has put together this quiz for readers to test their knowledge on the work inspired by Barbara McClintock's work and maybe even learn something new! Be sure to share your scores on Twitter with #transposonday2021. Questions appear immediately below, answers appear after the image of Dr. McClintock!
Question 1) True or false: TE's have profound implications in the fate and health of a cell.
a) True
b) False
Question 2) The short report "Transposons and satellite DNA: on the origin of the major satellite DNA family in the Chenopodium genome" states that the high degree of identity of the consensus satDNA monomers of the investigated species and the tnp2 fragment (from 82.1 to 94.9%) __________ evidence of the genesis of CficCl-61-40 satDNA family monomers from analogous regions of their respective parental elements.
a) Does not provide
b) Provides
Question 3) A recent Maxwell review in Mobile DNA summarizes TE content and distribution in four well-characterized __________ model systems: the pathogens Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, and the nonpathogenic species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
a) mammal
b) plant
c) yeast
Question 4) Dfam is an open access database of repetitive DNA families, sequence models, and genome annotations. The 3.0–3.3 releases of Dfam included ________ new de novo generated transposable element families from _____ species contributed by the EBI.
a) 100,000; 735
b) 266,740; 336
c) 5000; 100
d) 10000; 1000
Question 5) True or False: In the recent article, "Genomic properties of variably methylated retrotransposons in mouse", our authors' findings indicate that a recently evolved interplay between genetic sequence, CTCF binding, and DNA methylation at young TEs can result in inter-individual variability in transcriptional outcomes with implications for phenotypic variation.
a) True
b) False
Question 6) In a Research article from earlier this year, our authors show a significant remodeling of LINE-1 loci expression in _________ cell lines when compared to _________ cells.
a) mutant; normal
b) damaged healthy;
c) androgen independent; parental androgen dependent
d) none of the above
Question 7) In a 2021 review, our authors stated that accurate characterization of the whole mobilome of multiple and divergent vertebrate species, i.e. the accurate and complete genome-wide identification and annotation of TEs and TE-derived sequences in genomes along with their evolutionary and functional characteristics, ____________
a) is not possible.
b) is an ongoing challenge that will allow to better assess the impact of TEs on vertebrate evolution.
c) has not been assessed yet.
Question 8) Barbara McClintock’s pioneering work in discovering TE’s won her the _______ prize in _____?
a) Pulitzer Prize, 1983
b) Nobel Prize, 1983
c) Medal of Honor, 1983
d) Grammy, 1983
Answer 1) A. True
TE's have profound implications in the fate and health of a cell. This was found to be not only via the traditional pathway of genomic instability and epigenetic silencing – but also through the global regulation of genome folding. Read more in our 2020 commentary "Integrating transposable elements in the 3D genome".
Answer 2) B. Provides
The high degree of identity of the consensus satDNA monomers of the investigated species and the tnp2 fragment (from 82.1 to 94.9%) provides evidence of the genesis of CficCl-61-40 satDNA family monomers from analogous regions of their respective parental elements. The results were confirmed via molecular genetic methods and Oxford Nanopore sequencing. The discovered phenomenon leads to the continuous replenishment of species genomes with new identical satDNA monomers, which in turn may increase species satellitomes similarity. Read more in 2020's "Transposons and satellite DNA: on the origin of the major satellite DNA family in the Chenopodium genome".
Answer 3) C. Yeast
A recent Maxwell review in Mobile DNA summarizes TE content and distribution in four well-characterized yeast model systems: the pathogens Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, and the nonpathogenic species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Maxwell compares and contrasts their TE landscapes to their lifecycles, genomic features, as well as the presence and nature of RNA interference pathways in each species to highlight the valuable diversity represented by these models for functional studies of TEs. Read more here.
Answer 4) B. 266,740; 336
Dfam is an open access database of repetitive DNA families, sequence models, and genome annotations. The 3.0–3.3 releases of Dfam included 266,740 new de novo generated transposable element families from 336 species contributed by the EBI. This expansion demonstrates the utility of many of Dfam’s new features and provides insight into the long term challenges ahead for improving de novo generated transposable element datasets. Read more in our article.
Answer 5) A. True
In the recent article, "Genomic properties of variably methylated retrotransposons in mouse", our authors' findings indicate that a recently evolved interplay between genetic sequence, CTCF binding, and DNA methylation at young TEs can result in inter-individual variability in transcriptional outcomes with implications for phenotypic variation. Read more in the article.
Answer 6) C. androgen independent; parental androgen dependent
In a Research article from earlier this year, our authors show a significant remodeling of LINE-1 loci expression in androgen independent cell lines when compared to parental androgen dependent cells. Additionally, they found that ORF1p bound a significant amount of non-LINE-1 mRNA, and that the enriched ORF1p bound mRNAs are also amplified in LINE-1 expressing TCGA prostate tumors, indicating the biological relevance of our findings to prostate cancer.
Answer 7) B. is an ongoing challenge that will allow to better assess the impact of TEs on vertebrate evolution.
In a 2021 review, our authors stated that accurate characterization of the whole mobilome of multiple and divergent vertebrate species, i.e. the accurate and complete genome-wide identification and annotation of TEs and TE-derived sequences in genomes along with their evolutionary and functional characteristics, is an ongoing challenge that will allow to better assess the impact of TEs on vertebrate evolution.
Answer 8) B. Nobel Prize, 1983
Barbara McClintock’s pioneering work in discovering TE’s won her the Nobel Prize in 1983.