piRNAs Can Trigger a Multigenerational Epigenetic Memory in the Germline of C. elegans

By A. Ashe, A. Sapetschnig, Eva-Maria Weick, Jacinth Mitchell, Marloes P. Bagijn, A. Cording, Anna-Lisa Doebley, Leonard D. Goldstein, N. Lehrbach, J. Le Pen and 5 more. Cell, 2012

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Summary Transgenerational effects have wide-ranging implications for human health, biological adaptation, and evolution; however, their mechanisms and biology remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that a germline nuclear small RNA/chromatin pathway can maintain stable inheritance for many generations when triggered by a piRNA-dependent foreign RNA response in C. elegans. Using forward genetic screens and candidate approaches, we find that a core set of nuclear RNAi and chromatin factors is required for multigenerational inheritance of environmental RNAi and piRNA silencing. These include a germline-specific nuclear Argonaute HRDE1/WAGO-9, a HP1 ortholog HPL-2, and two putative histone methyltransferases, SET-25 and SET-32. piRNAs can trigger highly stable long-term silencing lasting at least 20 generations. Once established, this long-term memory becomes independent of the piRNA trigger but remains dependent on the nuclear RNAi/chromatin pathway. Our data present a multigenerational epigenetic inheritance mechanism induced by piRNAs.

Subfields: Aging, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/01540982a26434a4c31b272a1cad4e0b50619157

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In Aging

  1. A. Pocheville

In Molecular Biology

  1. B. Pujol
  2. A. Pocheville
  3. S. Blanchet
  4. Etienne G. J. Danchin

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