Cooling down transposon mobility

Abstract

Uncontrolled transposable element (TE) mobility can be deleterious to genome integrity. To protect their genomes, plants have evolved intricate silencing mechanisms that put brakes on these mobile elements. Under stress, however, these silencing mechanisms can be perturbed, putting genomes at risk. A recent study reveals that under heat stress, ROS1 expression is tightly regulated to keep TEs at bay.