How selfish retrotransposons are silenced in Drosophila germline and somatic cells.
Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA elements found in the genomes of various organisms. TEs have been highly conserved during evolution, suggesting that they confer advantageous effects to their hosts. However, due to their ability to transpose into virtually any locus, TEs have the ability to generate deleterious mutations in the host genome. In response, a variety of different mechanisms have evolved to mitigate their activities. A main defense mechanism is RNA silencing, which is a gene silencing mechanism triggered by small RNAs. In this review, we address RNA silencing mechanisms that silence retrotransposons, a subset of TEs, and discuss how germline and somatic cells are equipped with different retrotransposon silencing mechanisms.
Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Siomim@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
Mikiko C
MC
Siomi
Kuniaki
K
Saito
Haruhiko
H
Siomi
D000818:Animals; D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D018626:Retroelements / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
C433807:AGO2 protein, Drosophila; D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex; D018626:Retroelements; C116498:piwi protein, Drosophila