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Annual Review of Genetics

Volume 53, 2019

Multigenerational Regulation of the Chromatin Landscape by Germline Small RNAs

Abstract

In animals, small noncoding RNAs that are expressed in the germline and transmitted to progeny control gene expression to promote fertility. Germline-expressed small RNAs, including endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), drive the repression of deleterious transcripts such as transposons, repetitive elements, and pseudogenes. Recent studies have highlighted an important role for small RNAs in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance via regulation of heritable chromatin marks; therefore, small RNAs are thought to convey an epigenetic memory of genomic self and nonself elements. Small RNA pathways are highly conserved in metazoans and have been best described for the model organism . In this review, we describe the biogenesis, regulation, and function of endo-siRNAs and piRNAs, along with recent insights into how these distinct pathways are integrated to collectively regulate germline gene expression, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, and ultimately, animal fertility.

Keyword(s): chromatin, epigenetics, germline, small RNAs
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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043505
2019-12-03
2024-04-20
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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043505
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Multigenerational Regulation of the Caenorhabditis elegans Chromatin Landscape by Germline Small RNAs
Annual Review of Genetics 53, 289 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043505
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043505
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043505
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