The C. elegans SNAP complex component SNPC-4 coats piRNA domains and globally affects piRNA abundance

ABSTRACT: Remarkably, tens of thousands of piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) arise from a minimal number of discrete clustered regions in many organisms. However, it remains unclear if organization into these domains contributes to the highly coordinated, germline-specific expression of these small RNAs. Here, we show that SNPC-4, the DNA-binding subunit of the small nuclear RNA activating protein complex (SNAPc), binds piRNA clusters in a germline-specific manner and is required for global piRNA expression in C. elegans. Within piRNA domains, SNPC-4 not only binds at discrete sites through its established sequence motif, but also exhibits widely distributed binding across the region. Intriguingly, discrete peaks are not found at every piRNA, but instead occur frequently at Pol III-occupied tRNA genes,

ORGANISM(S): Caenorhabditis elegans

SUBMITTER: Valerie Reinke 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-53412 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress