Pollen cells keep memory to control jumping genes

The cell's identity is defined by the combination of genes that are turned on or off, any given moment in time. In the latest issue of the journal Cell, scientists from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, in Portugal, and CSHL, in the USA, describe a novel mechanism whereby potentially mutagenic sequences of mobile DNA are silenced in the pollen grain and in seeds, thus avoiding damage to new plants.

Read the whole article on Physorg

More from Physorg