ArticlePLoS genetics2021
RDC complex executes a dynamic piRNA program during Drosophila spermatogenesis to safeguard male fertility.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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28 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disruption of small RNAs and mechanistic variation in Segregation Distorter: A sperm-killing drive system in Drosophila melanogaster.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Finding the perfect promoter for Cas9 in homing gene drives using single cell transcriptome data.Nature communications · 2026Article
- piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- PIWI-Interacting RNAs in brain health and disease: biogenesis, mechanisms, and therapeutic horizons.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- In thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- piRNA direct the chromatin reader to its genomic targets.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Retrotransposon activation during spermatogenesis achieves massive ecDNA biogenesis but rare integration.Genes & development · 2026Article
- A guide to the biogenesis and functions of endogenous small non-coding RNAs in animals.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2025Review
- Complex determinants of R-loop formation at transposable elements and major DNA satellites.Genetics · 2025Article
- Small RNA-mediated suppression of sex chromosome meiotic conflicts during Drosophila male gametogenesis.Biochemical Society transactions · 2025Review
- Escalation of genome defense capacity enables control of an expanding meiotic driver.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Cracking the code: how piRNA pathway shapes spermatogenesis and combats male infertility.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Evolutionary adaptation of an HP1-protein chromodomain integrates chromatin and DNA sequence signals.eLife · 2024Article
- Escalation of genome defense capacity enables control of an expanding meiotic driver.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Essential functions of RNA helicase Vasa in maintaining germline stem cells and piRNA-guidedFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Article
- New perspectives on the causes and consequences of male meiotic drive.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2023Review
- A maternally programmed intergenerational mechanism enables male offspring to make piRNAs from Y-linked precursor RNAs in Drosophila.Nature cell biology · 2023Article
- miRNA/siRNA-directed pathway to produce noncoding piRNAs from endogenous protein-coding regions ensuresScience advances · 2023Article
- Genetic control of a sex-specific piRNA program.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- TheeLife · 2022Article
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
piRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that guide the silencing of transposons and other targets in animal gonads. In Drosophila female germline, many piRNA source loci dubbed "piRNA clusters" lack hallmarks of active genes and exploit an alternative path for transcription, which relies on the Rhino-Deadlock-Cutoff (RDC) complex. RDC was thought to be absent in testis, so it remains to date unknown how piRNA cluster transcription is regulated in the male germline. We found that components of RDC complex are expressed in male germ cells during early spermatogenesis, from germline stem cells (GSCs) to early spermatocytes. RDC is essential for expression of dual-strand piRNA clusters and transposon silencing in testis; however, it is dispensable for expression of Y-linked Suppressor of Stellate piRNAs and therefore Stellate silencing. Despite intact Stellate repression, males lacking RDC exhibited compromised fertility accompanied by germline DNA damage and GSC loss. Thus, piRNA-guided repression is essential for normal spermatogenesis beyond Stellate silencing. While RDC associates with multiple piRNA clusters in GSCs and early spermatogonia, its localization changes in later stages as RDC concentrates on a single X-linked locus, AT-chX. Dynamic RDC localization is paralleled by changes in piRNA cluster expression, indicating that RDC executes a fluid piRNA program during different stages of spermatogenesis. These results disprove the common belief that RDC is dispensable for piRNA biogenesis in testis and uncover the unexpected, sexually dimorphic and dynamic behavior of a core piRNA pathway machinery.
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