Pavel Merkulov

TEstorm activates LTR retrotransposons in plants by temporarily silencing regulatory genes and inducing stress, leading to transposition and heritable genetic changes.

The paper uses long-read sequencing to identify active LTR retrotransposons in a tomato breeding line, showing their origin from interspecific introgressions from S. peruvianum.

This study uses Cas9-targeted Nanopore sequencing to identify transposable element insertions and DNA methylation patterns in plants, revealing their role in stress response and genetic variation.