3/9 The black-or-white throat polymorphism is explained by the interaction of a transposable element (an LTR retrotransposon) upstream ASIP with ASIP coding variation. Mantle and neck side coloration is encoded by additive effects of regulatory variants upstream ASIP.

It would be exciting to study whether there are clear "causal" links between TE regulation and body plan formation in brown algae, where 'artificial' mobilisation of young TEs can drive innovation (and overcome constraints) in the formation of multicellular phenotypes.

Thank you!!

Thank you Vangeli!

Huge thanks to Susana Coelho, @hajkdrost.bsky.social, @cssmartinho.bsky.social and @rorycraig.bsky.social for their guidance and support throughout this massive work!

5/5 🔮 Brown algae are a unique lineage in the tree of life, and working on them gave me a new perspective on the diversity of TE landscapes and regulation mechanisms across eukaryotes!

4/5 ✨ And my favourite part: intact TEs are preferentially associated with small RNAs and with the histone modification H3K79me2. Their interplay offers a curious insight into alternative regulatory strategies.

3/5 🧬 Over 80% of genes contain at least one intronic TE insertion. These intronic elements are shorter and more degraded than intergenic TEs, and overall they show minimal impact on gene expression.

2/5 🧜 TEs form discrete, repeat-rich islands that don’t correspond to centromeres. We also found an interesting enrichment in the pseudo-autosomal region of the sex chromosome, likely fueled by local hopping of DNA transposons from the sex-determining region.

1/5 🌊 The Ectocarpus genome harbors a high diversity of evolutionarily young TEs. DNA transposons dominate, but Gypsy elements carrying a Tudor domain caught our eye!

Thank you Toby! Brown algae and TEs make a cool combo 🌊🦘🪅