Minotaur is critical for primary piRNA biogenesis

Vagin, V. V., Yu, Y., Jankowska, A., Luo, Y., Wasik, K. A., Malone, C. D., Harrison, E., Rosebrock, A., Wakimoto, B. T., Fagegaltier, D., Muerdter, F., Hannon, G. J. (June 2013) Minotaur is critical for primary piRNA biogenesis. RNA, 19 (8). pp. 1064-1077. ISSN 1469-9001 (Electronic)1355-8382 (Linking)

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URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23788724
DOI: 10.1261/rna.039669.113

Abstract

Piwi proteins and their associated small RNAs are essential for fertility in animals. In part, this is due to their roles in guarding germ cell genomes against the activity of mobile genetic elements. piRNA populations direct Piwi proteins to silence transposon targets and, as such, form a molecular code that discriminates transposons from endogenous genes. Information ultimately carried by piRNAs is encoded within genomic loci, termed piRNA clusters. These give rise to long, single-stranded, primary transcripts that are processed into piRNAs. Despite the biological importance of this pathway, neither the characteristics that define a locus as a source of piRNAs nor the mechanisms that catalyze primary piRNA biogenesis are well understood. We searched an EMS-mutant collection annotated for fertility phenotypes for genes involved in the piRNA pathway. Twenty-seven homozygous sterile strains showed transposon-silencing defects. One of these, which strongly impacted primary piRNA biogenesis, harbored a causal mutation in CG5508, a member of the Drosophila glycerol-3-phosphate O-acetyltransferase (GPAT) family. These enzymes catalyze the first acylation step on the path to the production of phosphatidic acid (PA). Though this pointed strongly to a function for phospholipid signaling in the piRNA pathway, a mutant form of CG5508, which lacks the GPAT active site, still functions in piRNA biogenesis. We have named this new biogenesis factor Minotaur.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > piRNA
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Hannon lab
School of Biological Sciences > Publications
CSHL Cancer Center Program > Cancer Genetics
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 20 June 2013
Date Deposited: 28 Jun 2013 13:45
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2017 21:17
PMCID: PMC3708527
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/28392

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