Transposable elements are powerful drivers of genome evolution in many eukaryotes. Although they are mostly considered as ‘selfish’ genetic elements, increasing evidence suggests that they contribute to genetic variability; particularly under stress conditions. Over the past few years, the role of transposable elements during host–microbe interactions has been recognised. It has been proposed that many pathogenic microbes have evolved a ‘two-speed’ genome with regions that show increased variability and that are enriched in transposable elements and pathogenicity-related genes. Plants similarly display structured genomes with transposable-element-rich regions that mediate accelerated evolution. Immune receptor genes typically reside in such regions. Various mechanisms have recently been identified through which transposable elements contribute to the coevolution between plants and their associated microbes.

转座因子是许多真核生物中基因组进化的强大驱动力。尽管它们大多被认为是“自私”的遗传元素，但越来越多的证据表明它们有助于遗传变异。特别是在压力条件下。在过去的几年中，人们认识到了转座因子在宿主与微生物相互作用中的作用。已经提出，许多病原微生物已经进化出“双速”基因组，其区域显示出增加的可变性并且富含转座因子和致病性相关基因。植物同样显示出结构化的基因组，其转座子丰富的区域介导了加速的进化。免疫受体基因通常位于此类区域。