In the August issue of PLoS Genetics, IBE researchers Lidia Mateo, Anna Ullastres and Josefa Gónzalez report the molecular, biochemical, and phenotypic characterization of an adaptive transposable element insertion. Mapping genotype to phenotype is a challenging task: many phenotypes are affected by a large number of genes and many individual genes affect multiple traits. By combining gene structure, gene expression, protein modelling, enzymatic activity, and phenotypic assays, we were able to show that a previously identified adaptive transposable element insertion mediates xenobiotic resistance in Drosophila. The conservation of stress response pathways across organisms make our results relevant not only for Drosophila but for other organisms as well. 

Reference Article: Mateo L, Ullastres A, González J. 2014. A Transposable Element Insertion Confers Xenobiotic Resistance in Drosophila. PLoS Genet 10(8): e1004560. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004560

http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004560