Piwi RNAs articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    In Caenorhabditis tropicalis, selective expression of genetic alleles from one parent but not the other can arise from maternally inherited small transcripts acting via the PIWI-interacting RNA host defence pathway.

    • Pinelopi Pliota
    • , Hana Marvanova
    •  & Alejandro Burga

  • Article |

    Cryo-electron microscopy structures of a PIWI–piRNA complex provide insight into how piRNAs recognise target RNAs and reveal differences from the target mechanisms of microRNAs.

    • Todd A. Anzelon
    • , Saikat Chowdhury
    •  & Ian J. MacRae

  • Article |

    A silkworm model recapitulates key steps of Zucchini-mediated cleavage of pre-pre-piRNA and provides insights into Zucchini-mediated and -independent pathways that generate pre-piRNAs, which converge to a common piRNA maturation step.

    • Natsuko Izumi
    • , Keisuke Shoji
    •  & Yukihide Tomari

  • Letter |

    Maternal mRNAs are tethered within the Drosophila germ plasm via base-pairing interactions between mRNAs and piRNPs containing the Aub Piwi protein; the preference for certain mRNAs to be tethered appears to be related to their longer length, which provides more potential piRNP-binding sites, and the results suggest a new role for piRNAs in germ-cell specification independent of their role in transposon silencing.

    • Anastassios Vourekas
    • , Panagiotis Alexiou
    •  & Zissimos Mourelatos

  • Letter |

    A paramutation occurs between two alleles in the same locus, when one allele induces a heritable mutation in another allele without modifying the DNA sequence; now, in Drosophila, a paramutation is shown to be transmissible over generations.

    • Augustin de Vanssay
    • , Anne-Laure Bougé
    •  & Stéphane Ronsseray

  • Letter |

    Piwi-associated RNAs (piRNAs) are small RNAs with several functions in the germline, such as repressing transposable elements and helping to maintain germline stem cells. Now, a function for piRNAs has been discovered outside the germline, in the fruitfly embryo. Specifically, piRNAs are required for the decay of the messenger RNA encoding the posterior morphogen Nanos. When piRNA-induced regulation is impaired, this mRNA is stabilized and developmental defects ensue.

    • Christel Rouget
    • , Catherine Papin
    •  & Martine Simonelig

  • Letter |

    Phenotypic robustness in the face of genetic and environmental perturbations — known as canalization — relies on buffering mechanisms. Hsp90 chaperone machinery has been proposed to be an evolutionarily conserved buffering mechanism of phenotypic variance. Here, an additional, perhaps alternative, mechanism whereby Hsp90 influences phenotypic variation is proposed; Hsp90 mutations can generate new variation by transposon-mediated mutagenesis.

    • Valeria Specchia
    • , Lucia Piacentini
    •  & Maria P. Bozzetti

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