The influence of transposable elements on animal colouration

Abstract

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic sequences present within host genomes. TEs can contribute to the evolution of host traits, since transposition is mutagenic and TEs often contain host regulatory and protein coding sequences. We review cases where TEs influence animal colouration, reporting major patterns and outstanding questions. TE-induced colouration phenotypes typically arise via introduction of novel regulatory sequences and splice sites, affecting pigment cell development or pigment synthesis. We discuss if particular TE types may be more frequently involved in the evolution of colour variation in animals, given that examples involving long terminal repeat (LTR) elements appear to dominate. Currently, examples of TE-induced colouration phenotypes in animals mainly concern model and domesticated insect and mammal species. However, several influential recent examples, coupled with increases in genome sequencing, suggest cases reported from wild species will increase considerably.