TEPEAK: A novel method for identifying and characterizing polymorphic transposable elements in non-model species populations

Transposable elements (TEs) replicate within genomes and are an active source of genetic variability in many species. Their role in immunity and domestication underscores their biological significance. However, analyzing TEs, especially within lesser-studied and wild populations, poses considerable challenges. To address this, we introduce TEPEAK, a simple and efficient approach to identify and characterize TEs in populations without any prior sequence or loci information. In addition to processing user-submitted genomes, TEPEAK integrates with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Sequence Read Archive (SRA) to increase cohort sizes or incorporate proximate species. Our application of TEPEAK to 257 horse genomes spanning 11 groups reaffirmed established genetic histories and highlighted disruptions in crucial genes. Some identified TEs were also detectable in species closely related to horses. TEPEAK paves the way for comprehensive genetic variation analysis in traditionally understudied populations by simplifying TE studies. TEPEAK is open-source and freely available at https://github.com/ryanlayerlab/TEPEAK.