Project description:We used the RNaseIII-like protein RTL1 to suppress siRNA biogenesis specifically in Arabidopsis pollen, and found distinct siRNA subsets produced in the sperm and vegetative cell lineages via the RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV).
Project description:We used the RNaseIII-like protein RTL1 to suppress siRNA biogenesis specifically in Arabidopsis pollen, and found distinct siRNA subsets produced in the sperm and vegetative cell lineages via the RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV).
Project description:We used the RNaseIII-like protein RTL1 to suppress siRNA biogenesis specifically in Arabidopsis pollen, and found distinct siRNA subsets produced in the sperm and vegetative cell lineages via the RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV).
Project description:Despite their prominent role in transposon silencing, expression of endo-siRNAs is not limited to the “non-self” DNA elements. Transcripts of protein-coding genes (“self” DNA) in some cases also produce endo-siRNAs in yeast, plants, and animals [1]. How cells distinguish these two populations of siRNAs to prevent unwanted silencing of self-genes in animals is not well understood. To address this question, we examined the expression of ectopic siRNAs from an LTR retrotransposon in C. elegans germline. We found that the abundance of ectopic siRNAs was dependent on their homologous target genes: ectopic siRNAs against genes expressed only in somatic cells can be abundantly expressed. In contrast, ectopic siRNAs against germline-expressed genes are often suppressed. This phenomenon, which we termed “target-directed siRNA suppression”, is dependent on the target mRNA and requires germline P-granule components. We found that siRNA suppression can also occur to naturally produced endo-siRNAs. We suggest that siRNA suppression plays an important role in regulating siRNA expression and preventing self-genes from aberrant epigenetic silencing.
Project description:We isolated tricellular pollen (TCP) and pollen mother cells (PMC) of rice using laser microdissection, and did microarray analysis with Agilent 44k rice array.
Project description:The mutagenic activity of transposable elements (TEs) is suppressed by epigenetic silencing and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), especially in gametes that would transmit transposed elements to the next generation. In pollen from the model plant Arabidopsis, we show that TEs are unexpectedly reactivated and transpose, but only in the pollen vegetative nucleus, which accompanies the sperm cells but does not provide DNA to the fertilized zygote. TE expression coincides with down-regulation of the heterochromatin remodeler DECREASE IN DNA METHYLATION 1 and of most TE siRNAs. However, 21 nucleotide siRNA from Athila retrotransposons is generated in pollen and accumulates in sperm, indicating that siRNA from TEs activated in the vegetative nucleus can target silencing in gametes. We propose a conserved role for reprogramming in germline companion cells, such as nurse cells in insects and vegetative nuclei in plants, to reveal intact TEs in the genome and regulate their activity in gametes.