Mobilome

[6] Eukaryotic transposable elements were first discovered in maize (Zea mays) in which kernels showed a dotted color pattern.

[7] Barbara McClintock described the maize Ac/Ds system in which the Ac locus promotes the excision of the Ds locus from the genome, and excised Ds elements can mutate genes responsible for pigment production by inserting into their coding regions.

[8] Other examples of transposable elements include: yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Ty elements, a retrotransposon which encodes a reverse transcriptase to convert its mRNA transcript into DNA which can then insert into other parts of the genome;[9][10] and fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) P-elements, which randomly inserts into the genome to cause mutations in germ line cells, but not in somatic cells.

[4] Plasmids and prophages can move between genomes through bacterial conjugation, allowing horizontal gene transfer.

[13] Discovered in 2008 in a strain of Acanthamoeba castellanii mimivirus,[18] virophages are an element of the virus mobilome.

(A) Transposable elements are flanked by inverted tandem repeats (TIRs). (B) Transposases cleave the transposable element at the TIRs. The free transposable element inserts into another part of the genome .
Bacterial conjugation . (1) Production of pilus . (2) Pilus connects two bacteria . (3) One strand of plasmid DNA moves into the recipient. (4) Both bacteria contain identical plasmids.