Modular transposition and the dynamical structure of eukaryote regulatory evolution.

This paper examines a model in which transposable elements provide a modular architecture for the cellular genome, complemented by cellular recombinational transformations, arising in turn as a dynamical consequence of this modular structure. It is proposed that the ecology of transposable elements in a given organism is a function of recombinational protocols of the evolving cellular genome. In mammals this is proposed to involve coordinated meiosis-phased activation of LINEs, SINEs and retrogenes complemented by endogenous retroviral transfer between cells.