How plants selectively silence jumping genes while protecting essential ones

Histone variants help establish DNA methylation at transposons (jumping genes) while preventing this epigenetic modification from spreading to essential genes in plants, a study from the Institute of Science Tokyo reveals.

The short version

• This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies .
• Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Plants and animals have multiple transposons, or "jumping genes," in their genomes.
• These mobile DNA elements can move to new locations within the genome.

What happened

Although transposons have contributed to genome evolution, their movement can disrupt genes and compromise genome stability, leading to diseases such as cancer. To prevent this, organisms often rely on epigenetic mechanisms (cellular processes such as DNA methylation that control gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence) to keep transposons inactive.

Why it matters

But as transposons and essential genes coexist within the same genome, an important question arises: How do cells selectively target transposons without accidentally silencing essential genes?

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.