The tiny germline chromosomes of Paramecium aurelia have an exceptionally high recombination rate and are capped by a new class of Helitrons. - Arnaiz O; Guérin F; Couloux A; Miró-Pina C; Pellerin G; Nekrasova I; Amselem J; Aury JM; Bhullar S; Frapporti A; Lerat E; Luyten I; et al. (BMC biology, 2026)