What is a transposable element?
Transposable elements (transposons or TE) are segments of DNA that possess the ability to jump around in the genome of their host. These elements, informally known as “jumping genes”, can integrate in almost all regions of the host chromosome. This act of integration is known as transposition. As one can imagine, transposition can cause deleterious mutations in the host genome. Luckily for us all, transposition is a very low probability event, as low as 10-6 per element per generation. Transposable elements make up a large proportion of the genome in all species. The proportion depends on the species being considered. For example, 15% of the Drosophila genome is composed of TE’s and 90% of genome of wheat and pine are composed of TEs. In many ways, TE’s are genetic parasites that infect the genome and multiply within the carrying capacity of the host.
