Non-mendelian female sterility in Drosophila melanogaster: influence of ageing and thermic treatments

Bucheton, Alain

doi:10.1038/hdy.1978.106

Cited by 57 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, if the TE is inherited from the mother, then the TE remains repressed, and the progeny is fertile ( Fig. 3B; Bucheton 1979;Bingham et al 1982;Rubin et al 1982). Recent studies revealed that derepression of the TE in a dysgenic cross correlates with the absence of cognate piRNAs targeting this element, thereby implicating a failure of piRNA-mediated silencing as a primary reason for element activation (Brennecke et al 2008;Khurana et al 2011;Grentzinger et al 2012).…”

Section: Transgenerational Effects Of Pirnas In Drosophilamentioning

confidence: 99%

Small but sturdy: small RNAs in cellular memory and epigenetics

2014

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Cells in multicellular organisms have distinct identities characterized by their profiles of expressed genes. Cell identities can be stable over a long time and through multiple cellular divisions but are also responsive to extracellular signals. Since the DNA sequence is identical in all cells, a “cellular memory” of expression profiles is achieved by what are defined as epigenetic mechanisms. Two major molecular principles—networks of transcription factors and maintenance of cis-chromatin modifications—have been implicated in maintaining cellular memory. Here we describe recent studies demonstrating that short noncoding RNAs can also provide molecular signals that define epigenetic states of cells. Small RNAs can act independently or cooperate with chromatin modifications to achieve long-lasting effects necessary for cellular memory and transgenerational inheritance.

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Section: Transgenerational Effects Of Pirnas In Drosophilamentioning

confidence: 99%

Small but sturdy: small RNAs in cellular memory and epigenetics

2014

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“…Previous genetic studies reported that the fertility of SF females can be improved by various aging and thermic treatments applied not only on the SF females themselves but also on their R mothers (Bucheton 1978). The effect of such treatments is maternally inherited but is progressively lost over generations (Bucheton 1979;Bucheton et al 2002;Chambeyron and Bucheton 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The effect of such treatments is maternally inherited but is progressively lost over generations (Bucheton 1979;Bucheton et al 2002;Chambeyron and Bucheton 2005). Environmental factors can therefore modify the epigenetic characteristics of R females, as an acquired trait that can be partially transmitted to the progeny.…”

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confidence: 99%

piRNA-mediated transgenerational inheritance of an acquired trait

et al. 2012

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The maintenance of genome integrity is an essential trait to the successful transmission of genetic information. In animal germ cells, piRNAs guide PIWI proteins to silence transposable elements (TEs) in order to maintain genome integrity. In insects, most TE silencing in the germline is achieved by secondary piRNAs that are produced by a feed-forward loop (the pingpong cycle), which requires the piRNA-directed cleavage of two types of RNAs: mRNAs of functional euchromatic TEs and heterochromatic transcripts that contain defective TE sequences. The first cleavage that initiates such an amplification loop remains poorly understood. Taking advantage of the existence of strains that are devoid of functional copies of the LINE-like I-element, we report here that in such Drosophila ovaries, the initiation of a ping-pong cycle is exclusively achieved by secondary I-element piRNAs that are produced in the ovary and deposited in the embryonic germline. This unusual secondary piRNA biogenesis, detected in the absence of functional I-element copies, results from the processing of sense and antisense transcripts of several different defective I-element. Once acquired, for instance after ancestor aging, this capacity to produce heterochromatic-only secondary piRNAs is partially transmitted through generations via maternal piRNAs. Furthermore, such piRNAs acting as ping-pong initiators in a chromatin-independent manner confer to the progeny a high capacity to repress the I-element mobility. Our study explains, at the molecular level, the basis for epigenetic memory of maternal immunity that protects females from hybrid dysgenesis caused by transposition of paternally inherited functional I-element.

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“…The kinetics of appearance of this new piRNA production is not clear, but some functional evidence has been provided from previous studies concerning the repression capacity inheritance of the I-factor and of the P-element (Kidwell et al 1977;Bucheton 1978;Engels 1979). In both systems, it appears that establishment of repressive capacities, following paternal inheritance of I-or P-elements carrying genomes in a cytoplasm devoid of I-or P-homologous piRNAs, is progressive and require several generations to be completed (Engels 1979(Engels , 1989Bregliano et al 1980;Finnegan 1989;Rio 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paramutation inDrosophilaRequires Both Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Actors of the piRNA Pathway and InducesCis-spreading of piRNA Production

et al. 2015

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Transposable element activity is repressed in the germline in animals by PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), a class of small RNAs produced by genomic loci mostly composed of TE sequences. The mechanism of induction of piRNA production by these loci is still enigmatic. We have shown that, in Drosophila melanogaster, a cluster of tandemly repeated P-lacZ-white transgenes can be activated for piRNA production by maternal inheritance of a cytoplasm containing homologous piRNAs. This activated state is stably transmitted over generations and allows trans-silencing of a homologous transgenic target in the female germline. Such an epigenetic conversion displays the functional characteristics of a paramutation, i.e., a heritable epigenetic modification of one allele by the other. We report here that piRNA production and trans-silencing capacities of the paramutated cluster depend on the function of the rhino, cutoff, and zucchini genes involved in primary piRNA biogenesis in the germline, as well as on that of the aubergine gene implicated in the ping-pong piRNA amplification step. The 21-nt RNAs, which are produced by the paramutated cluster, in addition to 23-to 28-nt piRNAs are not necessary for paramutation to occur. Production of these 21-nt RNAs requires Dicer-2 but also all the piRNA genes tested. Moreover, cytoplasmic transmission of piRNAs homologous to only a subregion of the transgenic locus can generate a strong paramutated locus that produces piRNAs along the whole length of the transgenes. Finally, we observed that maternally inherited transgenic small RNAs can also impact transgene expression in the soma. In conclusion, paramutation involves both nuclear (Rhino, Cutoff) and cytoplasmic (Aubergine, Zucchini) actors of the piRNA pathway. In addition, since it is observed between nonfully homologous loci located on different chromosomes, paramutation may play a crucial role in epigenome shaping in Drosophila natural populations.KEYWORDS gene regulation; trans-generational epigenetics; noncoding small RNAs; mobile DNA; Drosophila G ENOMES must confront the presence of a large fraction of mobile DNA whose activity can result in severe deleterious effects on chromosome stability and gametogenesis. In the germline of animals, a system of genomic traps exists into which any transposable element (TE) can insert, thereby generating loci that contain a catalog of potentially dangerous sequences that have to be repressed (Brennecke et al. 2007;Pane et al. 2011;Iwasaki et al. 2015). In the Drosophila melanogaster germline, most of these loci are transcribed in both directions (dual-strand clusters) and undergo noncanonical transcription and RNA processing (Mohn et al. 2014;Zhang et al. 2014). This results in production of noncoding small RNAs having the capacity to target the transcripts of the homologous, potentially active, TE copies scattered throughout the genome. These small RNAs are called PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and repress TE activity at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels (Sa...

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Non-mendelian female sterility in Drosophila melanogaster: influence of ageing and thermic treatments

Cited by 57 publications

References 15 publications

Small but sturdy: small RNAs in cellular memory and epigenetics

Small but sturdy: small RNAs in cellular memory and epigenetics

piRNA-mediated transgenerational inheritance of an acquired trait

Paramutation inDrosophilaRequires Both Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Actors of the piRNA Pathway and InducesCis-spreading of piRNA Production

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