Title

A distinct small RNA pathway silences selfish genetic elements in the germline

UMMS Affiliation

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology

Publication Date

2006-07-01

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

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.

DOI of Published Version

10.1126/science.1129333

Source

Science. 2006 Jul 21;313(5785):320-4. Epub 2006 Jun 29. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

16809489

Link to Full Text

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