Separable roles for RNAi in regulation of transposable elements and viability in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus.

ABSTRACT: RNA interference (RNAi) is a conserved mechanism of small RNA-mediated genome regulation commonly involved in suppression of transposable elements (TEs) through both post-transcriptional silencing, and transcriptional repression via heterochromatin assembly. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been extensively utilised as a model for studying RNAi pathways. However, this species is somewhat atypical in that TEs are not major targets of RNAi, and instead small RNAs correspond primarily to non-coding pericentromeric repeat sequences, reflecting a specialised role for the pathway in promoting heterochromatin assembly in these regions. In contrast, in the related fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, sequenced small RNAs correspond primarily to TEs. This suggests there may b

SUBMITTER: Chapman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8912903 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature