Project description:In Drosophila, Piwi-induced transcriptional repression is associated with the establishment of repressive chromatin marks by the histone methyltrasferase SetDB1, however how the Piwi/piRNA complex recruits this effector to chromatin targets is poorly understood. We identified a new player in piRNA-guided transcriptional silencing encoded by the Su(var)2-10 gene. Su(var)2-10 is required for transcriptional silencing and deposition of repressive chromatin marks on transposons and it physically associates with the Piwi/piRNA target recognition complex. Recruitment of Su(var)2-10 to a target locus in a piRNA-independent fashion induces transcriptional repression and deposition of the H3K9 trimethyl mark by the histone methyltransferase dSetDB1/Eggless. Su(var)2-10 belongs to a conserved family of proteins that function as SUMO E3 ligases and we found that the SUMO pathway is essential for the repressive function of Su(var)2-10 and for transcriptional repression of transposons. Together, our data identifies Su(var)2-10 as an essential component of the piRNA-induced transcriptional silencing pathway that links the target recognition complex to the silencing effector and reveals a novel role of SUMO modification in the piRNA-induced repression.
Project description:The piRNA-interacting Piwi protein is involved in transcriptional silencing of transposable elements in ovaries of D. melanogaster. Here we characterized the genome-wide effect of nuclear Piwi elimination on the presence of the heterochromatic H3K9me3 mark and HP1a, as well as on the transcription-associated mark H3K4me2. Our results demonstrate that a significant increase in the H3K4me2 level upon nuclear Piwi loss is not accompanied by the alterations in H3K9me3 and HP1a levels for several germline-expressed transposons, suggesting that in this case Piwi prevents transcription by a mechanism distinct from H3K9 methylation. We found that the targets of Piwi-dependent chromatin repression are mainly related to the elements that display a higher level of H3K4me2 modification in the absence of silencing, i.e. most actively transcribed elements. We also show that Piwi-guided silencing does not significantly influence the chromatin state of dual-strand piRNA-producing clusters. In addition, host protein-coding gene expression is essentially not affected due to the nuclear Piwi elimination, but we noted an increase in small nuclear spliceosomal RNAs abundance and propose Piwi involvement in their posttranscriptional regulation. Our work reveals new aspects of transposon silencing in Drosophila, indicating that transcription of transposons can underpin their Piwi dependent silencing, while canonical heterochromatin marks are not obligatory for their repression. Examination of histone modifications in ovaries from two different fly lines- piwiNt/piwi2 (mutant) and piwi/+ (wildtype)
Project description:The piRNA-interacting Piwi protein is involved in transcriptional silencing of transposable elements in ovaries of D. melanogaster. Here we characterized the genome-wide effect of nuclear Piwi elimination on the presence of the heterochromatic H3K9me3 mark and HP1a, as well as on the transcription-associated mark H3K4me2. Our results demonstrate that a significant increase in the H3K4me2 level upon nuclear Piwi loss is not accompanied by the alterations in H3K9me3 and HP1a levels for several germline-expressed transposons, suggesting that in this case Piwi prevents transcription by a mechanism distinct from H3K9 methylation. We found that the targets of Piwi-dependent chromatin repression are mainly related to the elements that display a higher level of H3K4me2 modification in the absence of silencing, i.e. most actively transcribed elements. We also show that Piwi-guided silencing does not significantly influence the chromatin state of dual-strand piRNA-producing clusters. In addition, host protein-coding gene expression is essentially not affected due to the nuclear Piwi elimination, but we noted an increase in small nuclear spliceosomal RNAs abundance and propose Piwi involvement in their posttranscriptional regulation. Our work reveals new aspects of transposon silencing in Drosophila, indicating that transcription of transposons can underpin their Piwi dependent silencing, while canonical heterochromatin marks are not obligatory for their repression.
Project description:Heterochromatin, representing the silenced state of transcription, largely consists of transposon-enriched and highly repetitive sequences. Implicated in heterochromatin formation and transcriptional silencing in Drosophila are PIWI and repeat-associated small interfering RNAs (rasiRNAs). Despite this, the role of PIWI in rasiRNA expression and heterochromatic silencing remains unknown. Here we report the identification and characterization of 12,903 PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in Drosophila, demonstrating that rasiRNAs represent a subset of piRNAs. Keywords: PIWI, piRNA, epigenetic regulation, heterochromatin
Project description:Heterochromatin, representing the silenced state of transcription, largely consists of transposon-enriched and highly repetitive sequences. Implicated in heterochromatin formation and transcriptional silencing in Drosophila are PIWI and repeat-associated small interfering RNAs (rasiRNAs). Despite this, the role of PIWI in rasiRNA expression and heterochromatic silencing remains unknown. Here we report the identification and characterization of 12,903 PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in Drosophila, demonstrating that rasiRNAs represent a subset of piRNAs. Keywords: PIWI, piRNA, epigenetic regulation, heterochromatin PIWI-associated small RNA cDNA library was sequenced for one time by high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing. Putative small RNA sequences were extracted and BLAST against the Drosophila melanogaster genome release 5. Presented here is a list of non-redundant PIWI-associated small RNAs, which have at least one genome match determined by BLASTn.
Project description:The PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway is a small RNA-based immune system that controls the expression of transposons and maintains genome integrity in animal germlines1,2. In Drosophila, piRNA-guided silencing is achieved, in part, via co-transcriptional repression of transposons by Piwi. This depends on Panoramix (Panx)3,4; however, precisely how an RNA binding event silences transcription remains to be determined. Here we show that Nuclear Export Factor 2 (Nxf2) and its co-factor, Nxt1, form a complex with Panx, and are required for co-transcriptional silencing of transposons in somatic and germline cells of the ovary. Tethering of Nxf2 to either RNA or DNA results in silencing of target loci and the concomitant accumulation of repressive chromatin marks. Nxf2 and Panx proteins are mutually required for proper localization and stability. We mapped the protein domains crucial for the Nxf2/Panx complex formation and show that the amino-terminal portion of Panx is sufficient to induce transcriptional silencing. Loss of Nxf2 or Panx results in nuclear accumulation of transposon transcripts, which is for some transposons Piwi-dependent.
Project description:In the Metazoan germline, piwi proteins and associated piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) provide a defense system against the expression of transposable elements. In the cytoplasm, piRNA sequences guide piwi complexes to destroy complementary transposon transcripts by endonucleolytic cleavage. However, some piwi family members are nuclear, raising the possibility of alternative pathways for piRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression. We found that Drosophila Piwi is recruited to chromatin, co-localizing with RNA polymerase II on polytene chromosomes. Knockdown of Piwi in the germline increases expression of transposable elements that are targeted by piRNAs, whereas protein-coding genes remain largely unaffected. De-repression of transposons upon Piwi depletion correlates with increased occupancy of RNA polymerase II on their promoters. Expression of piRNAs that target a reporter construct results in a decrease in Pol II occupancy and an increase in repressive H3K9me3 marks and HP1 on the reporter locus. Our results indicate that Piwi identifies targets complementary to the associated piRNA and induces transcriptional repression by establishing a repressive chromatin state when correct targets are found. Examination of mRNA levels, Pol II occupancy, and chromatin repressive state in D. melanogaster ovaries upon Piwi knockdown and Piwi mutation. This records present the sequencing data related to Piwi knockdown study portion.
Project description:In animal gonads, the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway guards genome integrity in part through the co-transcriptional gene silencing of transposon insertions. In Drosophila ovaries, piRNA-loaded Piwi detects nascent transposon transcripts and instructs heterochromatin formation through the Panoramix-induced co-transcriptional silencing (PICTS) complex, containing Panoramix, Nxf2 and Nxt1. Here, we report that the highly conserved dynein light chain LC8/Cut-up (Ctp) is an essential component of the PICTS complex. Loss of Ctp results in transposon de-repression and a reduction in repressive chromatin marks specifically at transposon loci. In turn, Ctp can enforce transcriptional silencing when artificially recruited to RNA and DNA reporters. We show that Ctp drives dimerisation of the PICTS complex through its interaction with conserved motifs within Panoramix. Artificial dimerisation of Panoramix bypasses the necessity for its interaction with Ctp, demonstrating that conscription of a protein from a ubiquitous cellular machinery has fulfilled a fundamental requirement for a transposon silencing complex.
Project description:In animal gonads, the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway guards genome integrity in part through the co-transcriptional gene silencing of transposon insertions. In Drosophila ovaries, piRNA-loaded Piwi detects nascent transposon transcripts and instructs heterochromatin formation through the Panoramix-induced co-transcriptional silencing (PICTS) complex, containing Panoramix, Nxf2 and Nxt1. Here, we report that the highly conserved dynein light chain LC8/Cut-up (Ctp) is an essential component of the PICTS complex. Loss of Ctp results in transposon de-repression and a reduction in repressive chromatin marks specifically at transposon loci. In turn, Ctp can enforce transcriptional silencing when artificially recruited to RNA and DNA reporters. We show that Ctp drives dimerisation of the PICTS complex through its interaction with conserved motifs within Panoramix. Artificial dimerisation of Panoramix bypasses the necessity for its interaction with Ctp, demonstrating that conscription of a protein from a ubiquitous cellular machinery has fulfilled a fundamental requirement for a transposon silencing complex.