https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:2979 Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s Pianezza, Riccardo Riccardo Pianezza 0009-0007-6213-7853 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Kofler, Robert Robert Kofler 0000-0001-9960-7248 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Signor, Sarah Sarah Signor North Dakota State University Scarpa, Almorò Almorò Scarpa University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Narayanan, Prakash Prakash Narayanan North Dakota State University Public Library of Science text eng During the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between 1950 and 1980. Here we describe a novel TE, which we named Spoink, that has invaded D. melanogaster. It is a 5216nt LTR retrotransposon of the Ty3/gypsy superfamily. Relying on strains sampled at different times during the last century we show that Spoink invaded worldwide D. melanogaster populations after the P-element between 1983 and 1993. This invasion was likely triggered by a horizontal transfer from the D. willistoni group, much as the P-element. Spoink is probably silenced by the piRNA pathway in natural populations and about 1/3 of the examined strains have an insertion into a canonical piRNA cluster such as 42AB. Given the degree of genetic investigation of D. melanogaster it is perhaps surprising that Spoink was able to invade unnoticed. Animals; Drosophila melanogastergenetics; Retroelements; Piwi-Interacting RNA; Drosophilagenetics; DNA Transposable Elements http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:2979/download 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011201 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf PLoS Genetics 20(3) (2024) PLoS Genetics 20 3 3.49 MB 2024