Multitasking of the piRNA Silencing Machinery: Targeting Transposable Elements and Foreign Genes in the Bdelloid Rotifer Adineta vaga.

ABSTRACT: RNA-mediated silencing processes play a key role in silencing of transposable elements, especially in the germ line, where piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are responsible for suppressing transposon mobility and maintaining genome integrity. We previously reported that the genome of Adineta vaga, the first sequenced representative of the phylum Rotifera (class Bdelloidea), is characterized by massive levels of horizontal gene transfer, by unusually low transposon content, and by highly diversified RNA-mediated silencing machinery. Here, we investigate genome-wide distribution of pi-like small RNAs, which in A. vaga are 25-31 nucleotides in length and have a strong 5'-uridine bias, while lacking ping-pong amplification signatures. In agreement with expectations, 71% of mapped reads correspond

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4858778 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature