Paramutation is a non-Mendelian inheritance phenomenon in which one allele alters the epigenetic state of a second allele, probably through an RNA signal; this 'paramutated' state of the second allele can be inherited by progeny independently of the first allele. Kiani et al. found that establishment and trangenerational transmission of paramutated Kit and Sox9 alleles in mice requires Dnmt2, which is thought to be primarily an RNA methyltransferase. Further analyses revealed hypomethylation of Kit transcripts in Dnmt2-null mice without detectable methylation changes at the Kit genomic locus. Thus, DNMT2-mediated methylation may be required for the activity or stability of transgenerational RNAs in mice.