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Updated: May 12, 2026

Analysis of LINE-1 Retrotransposition at the Single Nucleus Level
Published on: April 23, 2016
Maternally deposited germline piRNAs silence the tirant retrotransposon in somatic cells
Abdou Akkouche1, Thomas Grentzinger, Marie Fablet
1Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
Abstract:
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.
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