Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 28 November 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5906, pp. 1387 - 1392
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165171
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

An Epigenetic Role for Maternally Inherited piRNAs in Transposon Silencing

Julius Brennecke,1* Colin D. Malone,1* Alexei A. Aravin,1 Ravi Sachidanandam,1{dagger} Alexander Stark,2,3 Gregory J. Hannon1{ddagger}

In plants and mammals, small RNAs indirectly mediate epigenetic inheritance by specifying cytosine methylation. We found that small RNAs themselves serve as vectors for epigenetic information. Crosses between Drosophila strains that differ in the presence of a particular transposon can produce sterile progeny, a phenomenon called hybrid dysgenesis. This phenotype manifests itself only if the transposon is paternally inherited, suggesting maternal transmission of a factor that maintains fertility. In both P- and I-element–mediated hybrid dysgenesis models, daughters show a markedly different content of Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) targeting each element, depending on their parents of origin. Such differences persist from fertilization through adulthood. This indicates that maternally deposited piRNAs are important for mounting an effective silencing response and that a lack of maternal piRNA inheritance underlies hybrid dysgenesis.

1 Watson School of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
2 Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Techonology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA.
3 Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.

{ddagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hannon{at}cshl.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The RNA-induced Silencing Complex: A Versatile Gene-silencing Machine.
A. J. Pratt and I. J. MacRae (2009)
J. Biol. Chem. 284, 17897-17901
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Epigenetic Programming: The Challenge to Species Hybridization.
R. Ishikawa and T. Kinoshita (2009)
Mol Plant
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Small regulatory RNAs in neurodevelopmental disorders.
S. Chang, S. Wen, D. Chen, and P. Jin (2009)
Hum. Mol. Genet. 18, R18-R26
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Small RNA Silencing Pathways in Germ and Stem Cells.
A.A. Aravin and G.J. Hannon (2009)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)