Environmentally induced variation in sperm sRNAs is linked to gene expression and transposable elements in zebrafish offspring.

ABSTRACT: Environmental factors affect not only paternal condition but may translate into the following generations where sperm-mediated small RNAs (sRNAs) can contribute to the transmission of paternal effects. sRNAs play a key role in the male germ line in genome maintenance and repair, and particularly in response to environmental stress and the resulting increase in transposable element (TE) activity. Here, we investigated how the social environment (high competition, low competition) of male zebrafish Danio rerio affects sRNAs in sperm and how these are linked to gene expression and TE activity in their offspring. In a first experiment, we collected sperm samples after exposing males to each social environment for 2 weeks to test for differentially expressed sperm micro- (miRNA) and piwi-intera

SUBMITTER: Godden AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11977266 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature