TE studies in Japan: the fourth Japanese meeting on host–transposon interactions

The fourth Japanese meeting entitled "Biological Function and Evolution through Interactions between Hosts and Transposable Elements (TEs)" was held on August 20-21, 2018 at the National Institute of Genetics (NIG), Mishima, Japan. The meeting was supported by NIG, and its objective was to bring together researchers who study the diverse roles of TEs in genome evolution, as well as host defense systems against TE mobility, such as chromatin modifications, small RNAs, and others. Here, we present the highlights of the talks given by 14 invited speakers. Organizers: Kenji Ichiyanagi (chief), Kuniaki Saito, and Tetsuji Kakutani.