A Genome-wide RNAi screen identifies factors required for distinct stages of C. elegans piRNA biogenesis

ABSTRACT: In animals, piRNAs, and their associated Piwi proteins, guard germ cell genomes against mobile genetic elements via an RNAi-like mechanism. In C. elegans, 21U-RNAs comprise the piRNA class and these collaborate with 22G RNAs, via unclear mechanisms, to discriminate self from non-self and selectively and heritably silence the latter. Recent work indicates that 21U-RNAs are post-transcriptional processing products of individual transcription units that produce ~26 nucleotide capped precursors. Yet, nothing is known of how the expression of precursors is controlled or of how primary transcripts give rise to mature small RNAs. We conducted a genome-wide RNAi screen to identify components of the 21U biogenesis machinery. Screening by direct, qPCR-based measurements of mature 21U-RNA levels, we

ORGANISM(S): Caenorhabditis elegans

SUBMITTER: Gregory Hannon 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-53970 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress