Mobile genetic elements that alter the function of nearby genes

Raúl Castanera-Andrés, an engineer in the Agri-Food Engineering and Rural Environment Department of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre, has worked on detecting mobile genetic elements (transposons) in basidiomycete fungi, a type of well-known fungi because they produce edible mushrooms and are active degraders of lignocellulosic waste. Transposons are DNA fragments capable of "jumping" from one chromosomal region to another and bringing about permanent changes in the genome. In his study, the researcher has shown that besides causing mutations and reordering in the genome, some transposons can switch off the functioning of the genes in their vicinity, thus silencing the expression of the gene in question and preventing the protein encoded for it from being synthesised.