Work

Host Factors Promoting the LTR Retrotransposon Life Cycle in Plant Cells: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Long Terminal Repeat (LTR) retrotransposons (LTR-RTEs) comprise up to 90% of some plant genomes and drive genome diversification through their amplification. Novel insertions arise during the final stages of the LTR-RTE life cycle, which depends on both LTR-RTE-encoded proteins and host cellular factors. The LTR-RTE elements require host transcriptional machinery for RNA production, followed by nuclear processing/export, translation, virus-like particle assembly, reverse transcription, and genomic integration. This review addresses the following question: What host proteins promote LTR-RTE transposition in plants? Our analysis of recent literature on host factors and cellular compartments implicated in the retrotransposition cycle reveals the extensive integration of LTR-RTEs into host processes. Nonetheless, the precise mechanisms remain poorly resolved, especially in plants with their rich repertoire of LTR-RTEs. We propose integrating plant mobilomics with transposition reporters, genome editing, synthetic biology, and interactomics to elucidate plant-specific mechanisms.

Source: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/ijms27010374

Authors: Pavel Merkulov, Alexander Polkhovskiy, Elizaveta Kamarauli, Kirill Tiurin, Alexander Soloviev, Ilya Kirov

Institutions: All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Centre of Advanced Studies, All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Plant Quarantine

Language: English

Topic: Chromosomal and Genetic Variations

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,499

Funder: Russian Science Foundation