Replicating and Cycling Stores of Information Perpetuate Life

Jose, Antony M.

doi:10.1002/bies.201700161

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…W hen organisms reproduce by building a near copy of themselves, they recreate the information needed for making another copy. This heritable information is stored as the genome sequence and as particular spatial arrangements of regulators within each new generation [1][2][3] . Rare mutations in genome sequence that result from failed DNA repair are transmitted across generations through DNA replication during each cell division.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery

et al. 2021

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Stable epigenetic changes appear uncommon, suggesting that changes typically dissipate or are repaired. Changes that stably alter gene expression across generations presumably require particular conditions that are currently unknown. Here we report that a minimal combination of cis-regulatory sequences can support permanent RNA silencing of a single-copy transgene and its derivatives in C. elegans simply upon mating. Mating disrupts competing RNA-based mechanisms to initiate silencing that can last for >300 generations. This stable silencing requires components of the small RNA pathway and can silence homologous sequences in trans. While animals do not recover from mating-induced silencing, they often recover from and become resistant to trans silencing. Recovery is also observed in most cases when double-stranded RNA is used to silence the same coding sequence in different regulatory contexts that drive germline expression. Therefore, we propose that regulatory features can evolve to oppose permanent and potentially maladaptive responses to transient change.

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confidence: 99%

Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery

et al. 2021

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“…We reveal that recovery mechanisms within the germline oppose transgenerational changes at the level of a gene (Fig. 4j) and maintain a transgenerational homeostasis 46 that preserves gene expression patterns across generations. There is considerable excitement in the possibility of mechanisms that perpetuate acquired changes accelerating adaptive evolution 1,47,48 .…”

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Recovery from transgenerational RNA silencing is driven by gene-specific homeostasis

Devanapally

Raman

Allgood

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Gene silencing is a significant obstacle to genome engineering and has been proposed to be a non-self response against foreign DNA 1,2,3,4 . Yet, some foreign genes remain expressed for many generations 1,3,4 and some native genes remain silenced for many generations 1,5,6 . How organisms determine whether a sequence is expressed or silenced is unclear. Here we show that a stably expressed foreign DNA sequence in C. elegans is converted into a stably silenced sequence when males with the foreign DNA mate with wild-type hermaphrodites. This conversion does not occur when the hermaphrodite also has exonic sequences from the foreign DNA. Once initiated, silencing persists for many generations independent of mating and is associated with a DNA-independent signal that can silence other homologous loci in every generation. This mating-induced silencing resembles piRNA- generations. Thus, our results reveal the existence of a mechanism that maintains gene silencing initiated upon ancestral mating. By allowing retention of potentially detrimental sequences acquired through mating, this mechanism could create a reservoir of sequences that contribute to novelty when activated during evolution. ResultsMating is routinely used to introduce genes, including fluorescent reporters, into different genetic backgrounds and it is generally assumed that gene expression is unaffected by this manipulation. While

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“…Importantly, although this has been conventionally acknowledged as a function of acquired epigenetic experiences, the Senome concept includes the memory encoded within the non-genomic structured arrangement of molecules [18–21,54] that also gets transferred through cell divisions or between generations [54]. Further too, the Senome includes the variety of sensory fields, such as electromagnetic, electrical, vibratory, or mechano-transduction, that store senomic information and transmit towards epigenome and genome (Box 1).…”

Section: Senome Of Cellular Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Senomic view of the cell: SenomeversusGenome

Baluška

Miller

2018

Communicative & Integrative Biology

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In the legacy of Thomas Henry Huxley, and his ‘epigenetic’ philosophy of biology, cells are proposed to represent a trinity of three memory-storing media: Senome, Epigenome, and Genome that together comprise a cell-wide informational architecture. Our current preferential focus on the Genome needs to be complemented by a similar focus on the Epigenome and a here proposed Senome, representing the sum of all the sensory experiences of the cognitive cell and its sensing apparatus. Only then will biology be in a position to embrace the whole complexity of the eukaryotic cell, understanding its true nature which allows the communicative assembly of cells in the form of sentient multicellular organisms.

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Replicating and Cycling Stores of Information Perpetuate Life

Cited by 11 publications

References 113 publications

Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery

Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery

Recovery from transgenerational RNA silencing is driven by gene-specific homeostasis

Senomic view of the cell: SenomeversusGenome

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