Maternally deposited germline piRNAs silence the tirant retrotransposon in somatic cells

• Published in: EMBO reports Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 458 - 464
• Main Authors: Akkouche, Abdou, Grentzinger, Thomas, Fablet, Marie, Armenise, Claudia, Burlet, Nelly, Braman, Virginie, Chambeyron, Séverine, Vieira, Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.05.2013; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; EMBO Press; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animals; Cellular biology; Drosophila; Drosophila - cytology; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism; Female; Gene expression; Genes, Insect; histone modifications; Histones - metabolism; Life Sciences; Male; Methylation; Molecular biology; Ovary - cytology; Ovary - metabolism; piRNA; Proteins; Retroelements - genetics; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA Interference; RNA, Small Interfering - genetics; Scientific Reports; somatic regulation; transposable elements
• ISSN: 1469-221X; 1469-3178
• DOI: 10.1038/embor.2013.38

Transposable elements (TEs), whose propagation can result in severe damage to the host genome, are silenced in the animal gonad by Piwi‐interacting RNAs (piRNAs). piRNAs produced in the ovaries are deposited in the embryonic germline and initiate TE repression in the germline progeny. Whether the maternally transmitted piRNAs play a role in the silencing of somatic TEs is however unknown. Here we show that maternally transmitted piRNAs from the tirant retrotransposon in Drosophila are required for the somatic silencing of the TE and correlate with an increase in histone H3K9 trimethylation an active tirant copy. Transposable elements can be deleterious to host genomes and are repressed in germline cells by piRNAs. This study shows that germline piRNAs are also necessary to silence a transposable element in somatic cells.