A transgenerational process defines piRNA biogenesis in Drosophila virilis.

ABSTRACT: Piwi-interacting (pi)RNAs repress diverse transposable elements in germ cells of Metazoa and are essential for fertility in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The precursors of piRNAs are transcribed from distinct genomic regions, the so-called piRNA clusters; however, how piRNA clusters are differentiated from the rest of the genome is not known. To address this question, we studied piRNA biogenesis in two D. virilis strains that show differential ability to generate piRNAs from several genomic regions. We found that active piRNA biogenesis correlates with high levels of histone 3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) over genomic regions that give rise to piRNAs. Furthermore, piRNA biogenesis in the progeny requires the transgenerational inheritance of an epigenetic signal, presumably in th

SUBMITTER: Le Thomas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5054749 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature