A distinct small RNA pathway silences selfish genetic elements in the germline
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular PharmacologyGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2006-07-01Keywords
Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Germ Cells; Male; Mutation; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Ovary; Peptide Initiation Factors; Periodic Acid; Phosphates; Proteins; *RNA Interference; RNA, Antisense; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Small Interfering; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Retroelements; Terminal Repeat Sequences; TestisLife Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In the Drosophila germline, repeat-associated small interfering RNAs (rasiRNAs) ensure genomic stability by silencing endogenous selfish genetic elements such as retrotransposons and repetitive sequences. Whereas small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) derive from both the sense and antisense strands of their double-stranded RNA precursors, rasiRNAs arise mainly from the antisense strand. rasiRNA production appears not to require Dicer-1, which makes microRNAs (miRNAs), or Dicer-2, which makes siRNAs, and rasiRNAs lack the 2',3' hydroxy termini characteristic of animal siRNA and miRNA. Unlike siRNAs and miRNAs, rasiRNAs function through the Piwi, rather than the Ago, Argonaute protein subfamily. Our data suggest that rasiRNAs protect the fly germline through a silencing mechanism distinct from both the miRNA and RNA interference pathways.Source
Science. 2006 Jul 21;313(5785):320-4. Epub 2006 Jun 29. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1126/science.1129333Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/32716PubMed ID
16809489Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1126/science.1129333