Ago2-Mediated Recruitment of HP1a on Transposable Elements in <i>Drosophila</i> Brain.

ABSTRACT: In Drosophila gonads, transposable elements (TEs) are repressed by the Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway operating both co-transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally. In the non-gonadal tissues, TEs are mainly repressed by the short interfering RNA (siRNA) pathway with Argonaute 2 (Ago2) functioning as an effector protein. It is generally assumed that this pathway acts at the post-transcriptional level. However, recent data point to its possible involvement in co-transcriptional silencing as well. Here, using DamID, we found a drastic decrease in HP1a on TEs (especially on the LTR-containing retrotransposons) and other heterochromatin regions in Ago2-mutant Drosophila brain. HP1a reduction is accompanied by the increased chromatin accessibility of TEs, indicating

SUBMITTER: Olenkina OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12427935 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature