Telomere‐Specialized Retroelements in Drosophila : Adaptive Symbionts of the Genome, Neutral, or in Conflict?

Linear chromosomes shorten in every round of replication. In Drosophila , telomere‐specialized long interspersed retrotransposable elements (LINEs) belonging to the jockey clade offset this shortening by forming head‐to‐tail arrays at Drosophila telomere ends. As such, these telomeric LINEs have been considered adaptive symbionts of the genome, protecting it from premature decay, particularly as Drosophila lacks a conventional telomerase...