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Updated: May 3, 2026

In Vivo Proximity Biotinylation for Protein Interaction Studies in Paramecium tetraurelia
Published on: September 12, 2025
How might flukes and tapeworms maintain genome integrity without a canonical piRNA pathway?
Danielle E Skinner1, Gabriel Rinaldi1, Uriel Koziol2
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, and Research Center for Neglected Tropical, Diseases School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Abstract:
Surveillance by RNA interference is central to controlling the mobilization of transposable elements (TEs). In stem cells, Piwi argonaute (Ago) proteins and associated proteins repress mobilization of TEs to maintain genome integrity. This defense mechanism targeting TEs is termed the Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway. In this opinion article, we draw attention to the situation that the genomes of cestodes and trematodes have lost the piwi and vasa genes that are hallmark characters of the germline multipotency program. This absence of Piwi-like Agos and Vasa helicases prompts the question: how does the germline of these flatworms withstand mobilization of TEs? Here, we present an interpretation of mechanisms likely to defend the germline integrity of parasitic flatworms.
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