Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42321491›Full record

ArticleNature biotechnology2026

Efficient site-specific gene addition using R2 retrotransposons in tobacco and rice.

Zahir Ali, Haroon Butt, Raghad Alghamdi, Jose Luis Moreno Ramirez, Magdy Mahfouz

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In one paragraph

Article in Nature biotechnology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Zahir Ali *Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7814-8908
Haroon Butt *Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6935-8025
Raghad AlghamdiLaboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Jose Luis Moreno RamirezLaboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0907-1361
Magdy MahfouzLaboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. magdy.mahfouz@kaust.edu.sa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0616-6365

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Precise integration of multikilobase DNA fragments remains a major technical barrier in plants. Here we introduce non-long terminal repeat (non-LTR) R2 retrotransposons as a versatile system for targeted gene integration in plants. We reconstituted R2 activity in Nicotiana benthamiana and benchmarked insertion efficiency and fidelity using a TMV-based episomal reporter system. We demonstrate site-specific integration of GFP (2.2 kb) and recombinase-compatible landing pads (0.6 kb) into 28S rDNA arrays, with intact cassette insertion frequencies up to 75% and 53%, respectively. To temporally constrain donor availability and avoid DNA intermediates, we combined in planta effector expression with recombinant RNA virus-mediated donor delivery. We apply R2 retrotransposons for targeted insertion of resistance cassettes within the rDNA of rice callus, achieving integration efficiencies up to 17%. These results position R2 retrotransposons as a double-strand break-free system for RNA-templated insertion of multikilobase gene cassettes at rDNA loci, for safe-harbor trait stacking in plants with potential applications in crop improvement and synthetic biology.

Identifiers

PMID42321491

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.