Olivier Voinnet and colleagues characterize the sequence of molecular events underyling the activation, proliferation and eventual silencing of an endogenous retrotransposon in Arabidopsis thaliana. They further show how this transient mobilization causes widespread genome diversification and de novo epiallelism that could serve as sources of selectable and potentially adaptative traits.
- Arturo Marí-Ordóñez
- Antonin Marchais
- Olivier Voinnet