Maternally deposited germline piRNAs silence the tirant retrotransposon in somatic cells

Transposable elements (TEs), whose propagation can result in severe damage to the host genome, are silenced in the animal gonad by Piwi‐interacting RNAs (piRNAs). piRNAs produced in the ovaries are deposited in the embryonic germline and initiate TE repression in the germline progeny. Whether the ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EMBO reports 2013-05, Vol.14 (5), p.458-464
Main Authors: Akkouche, Abdou, Grentzinger, Thomas, Fablet, Marie, Armenise, Claudia, Burlet, Nelly, Braman, Virginie, Chambeyron, Séverine, Vieira, Cristina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cellular biology
Drosophila
Drosophila - cytology
Drosophila - genetics
Drosophila - metabolism
Drosophila Proteins - metabolism
EMBO09
EMBO13
Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism
Female
Gene expression
Genes, Insect
histone modifications
Histones - metabolism
Life Sciences
Male
Methylation
Molecular biology
Ovary - cytology
Ovary - metabolism
piRNA
Proteins
Retroelements - genetics
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
RNA Interference
RNA, Small Interfering - genetics
Scientific Report
Scientific Reports
somatic regulation
transposable elements
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Summary:Transposable elements (TEs), whose propagation can result in severe damage to the host genome, are silenced in the animal gonad by Piwi‐interacting RNAs (piRNAs). piRNAs produced in the ovaries are deposited in the embryonic germline and initiate TE repression in the germline progeny. Whether the maternally transmitted piRNAs play a role in the silencing of somatic TEs is however unknown. Here we show that maternally transmitted piRNAs from the tirant retrotransposon in Drosophila are required for the somatic silencing of the TE and correlate with an increase in histone H3K9 trimethylation an active tirant copy. Transposable elements can be deleterious to host genomes and are repressed in germline cells by piRNAs. This study shows that germline piRNAs are also necessary to silence a transposable element in somatic cells.
ISSN:1469-221X
1469-3178
DOI:10.1038/embor.2013.38