Report on the seventh Japanese meeting on biological function and evolution through interactions between hosts and transposable elements

TL;DR

This report summarizes a meeting on how transposable elements interact with hosts to influence genome function and evolution.

Contribution

The paper provides highlights from a conference discussing new insights into host-transposable element interactions across various species.

Findings

Researchers explored host defense systems against transposable element mobility.

Discussions covered TE bursts during evolution in multiple organisms.

Intron mobility in mammals, insects, and other species was a key topic.

Abstract

The seventh Japanese meeting on host–transposon interactions, titled “Biological Function and Evolution through Interactions between Hosts and Transposable Elements,” was held on September 1st and 2nd, 2025, at the National Institute of Genetics, as well as online. This meeting was supported by the National Institute of Genetics and aimed to bring together researchers studying the diverse roles of transposable elements (TEs) in genome function and evolution, as well as host defense systems against TE mobility, TE bursts during evolution, and intron mobility in mammals, insects, land plants, fungi, and protozoa. Here, we present the highlights of these discussions.