Emmerson Robyn, Catoni Marco
School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
J Exp Bot. 2025 Jun 17;76(9):2433-2446. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erae523.
Plants host a range of DNA elements capable of self-replication. These molecules, usually associated with the activity of transposable elements or viruses, are found integrated in the genome or in the form of extrachromosomal DNA. The activity of these elements can impact genome plasticity by a variety of mechanisms, including the generation of structural variants, the shuffling of regulatory or coding DNA sequences across the genome, and DNA endoduplication. This plasticity can dynamically alter gene expression and genome stability, ultimately affecting plant development or the response to environmental changes. While the activation of these elements is often considered deleterious to the genome, their role in creating variation is important in adaptation and evolution. Moreover, the mechanisms by which mobile DNA proliferates have been exploited for plant engineering, or contributed to understand how desirable traits can be generated in crops. In this review, we discuss the origins and the roles of mobile DNA element activity on genome plasticity and plant biology, as well as their potential function and current application in plant biotechnology.
植物含有一系列能够自我复制的DNA元件。这些分子通常与转座元件或病毒的活性相关，以整合到基因组中或染色体外DNA的形式存在。这些元件的活性可通过多种机制影响基因组可塑性，包括结构变异的产生、全基因组调控或编码DNA序列的重排以及DNA核内复制。这种可塑性可动态改变基因表达和基因组稳定性，最终影响植物发育或对环境变化的响应。虽然这些元件的激活通常被认为对基因组有害，但其在创造变异方面的作用在适应和进化中很重要。此外，可移动DNA增殖的机制已被用于植物工程，或有助于理解如何在作物中产生理想性状。在本综述中，我们讨论了可移动DNA元件活性的起源及其对基因组可塑性和植物生物学的作用，以及它们在植物生物技术中的潜在功能和当前应用。
