MPI-MP SUMMER SERIES: Innovating by jumping: The role of mobile DNA in the generation of diversity in plants - Leandro Quadrana

MPI-MP Summer Series

  • Datum: 15.09.2021
  • Uhrzeit: 14:00 - 15:30
  • Vortragende(r): Leandro Quadrana
  • Ort: Zoom
  • Gastgeber: PostDoc-Representatives @MPI-MP
  • Kontakt: Lonoce@mpimp-golm.mpg.de

Transposable elements (TEs) are powerful engines of genome evolution, as illustrated by their implication in the rewiring of gene regulatory networks and the creation of new cellular functions. Short-term consequences of TE mobilization can also be particularly dramatic given that TE insertions are a unique source of large effect mutations and that transposition can be exquisitely sensitive to the environment. Despite these considerations, there is a lack of knowledge about the role of ongoing transposition to within-species variation. In this talk I will present our efforts to characterize the contribution of TE mobilization to A. thaliana diversity and how we used this knowledge to forecast the consequences of environmentally-induced transposition in response to ongoing climate change. At the end of my talk I will also present some results that reveal the unique and underappreciated contribution of TE mobilization to tomato diversification. Our observations are particularly relevant for this and others crop species, which are typically characterized by reduced genetic variability despite the extensive phenotypic variation we can observe today among cultivars.

Short CV

Leandro Quadrana obtained his PhD in 2013 at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), where he investigated the genetic determinants of vitamin E content in Tomato. After a post doc in the team of Vincent Colot at the Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (France) working on population genomics of transposable elements in A. thaliana (2013-2017), he obtained in 2017 a permanent research position at the CNRS. Leandro’s main research interests focus in understanding the role of transposable element mobilization in the generation of intra-specific diversity. He is now stablishing his own team at the Institute of Plant Science Paris-Saclay.

Selected publications

Baduel P, Leduque B, Ignace A, Gy I, Gil Jr. J, Loudet O, Colot V, Quadrana L. Genetic and environmental modulation of transposition shapes the evolutionary potential of Arabidopsis thaliana. 2021 Genome Biology 22, 138

Domínguez M, Dugas E, Benchouaia M, Leduque B, Jiménez-Gómez JM, Colot V, Quadrana L. The impact of transposable elements on tomato diversity. Nat Comm. 2020 Aug 13;11(1):4058.

Quadrana L, Etcheverry M, Gilly A, Caillieux E, Madoui MA, Guy J, Bortolini Silveira A, Engelen S, Baillet V, Wincker P, Aury JM, Colot V. Transposition favors the generation of large effect mutations that may facilitate rapid adaption. Nat Comm 2019 Jul 31;10(1):3421.

Quadrana L, Bortolini Silveira A, Mayhew GF, LeBlanc C, Martienssen RA, Jeddeloh JA, Colot V. The Arabidopsis thaliana mobilome and its impact at the species level. Elife. 2016 Jun 3;5:e15716.

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