Zebrafish germline small RNAs

ABSTRACT: Piwi proteins specify an animal-specific subclass of the Argonaute family, that in vertebrates are specifically expressed in germ cells. We demonstrate that zebrafish Piwi (Ziwi) is expressed in both the male and the female gonad, and is a component of a germline specifying structure, called nuage. Loss of Ziwi function results in a progressive loss of germ cells due to apoptosis during larval development. In animals that have only reduced Ziwi function, germ cells are maintained, but display abnormal levels of apoptosis in adults. In mammals, Piwi proteins have been found to associate with approximately 29-nucleotide long, testis specific RNA molecules, called piRNAs. Here we show that zebrafish piRNAs are present in both ovaries and testes. Furthermore, we show that piRNAs are modified a

ORGANISM(S): Danio rerio

SUBMITTER: Eugene Berezikov 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-7131 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress