ArticleGenome research2021
Cellular abundance shapes function in piRNA-guided genome defense.
Article in Genome research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Divergent regulatory impacts of endogenous siRNAs on host mRNAs in testis of closely related species.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Traffic Jam activates the Flamenco piRNA cluster locus and the Piwi pathway to ensure transposon silencing and Drosophila fertility.Cell reports · 2025Article
- PIWI-interacting RNAs: who, what, when, where, why, and how.The EMBO journal · 2024Article
- A comparative roadmap of PIWI-interacting RNAs across seven species reveals insights into de novo piRNA-precursor formation in mammals.Cell reports · 2024Article
- Rapid evolution of piRNA clusters in theGenome research · 2024Article
- Article
- Novel roles of PIWI proteins and PIWI-interacting RNAs in human health and diseases.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2023Review
- Themes and variations on piRNA-guided transposon control.Mobile DNA · 2023Review
- Insights in piRNA targeting rules.Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. RNA · 2023Article
- Article
- In vivo PIWI slicing in mouse testes deviates from rules established in vitro.RNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Article
- Exosomes/microvesicles target SARS-CoV-2 via innate and RNA-induced immunity with PIWI-piRNA system.Life science alliance · 2022Article
- An introduction to PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in the context of metazoan small RNA silencing pathways.RNA biology · 2022Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Defense against genome invaders universally relies on RNA-guided immunity. Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas and eukaryotic RNA interference pathways recognize targets by complementary base-pairing, which places the sequences of their guide RNAs at the center of self/nonself discrimination. Here, we explore the sequence space of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), the genome defense of animals, and establish functional priority among individual sequences. Our results reveal that only the topmost abundant piRNAs are commonly present in every cell, whereas rare sequences generate cell-to-cell diversity in flies and mice. We identify a skewed distribution of sequence abundance as a hallmark of piRNA populations and show that quantitative differences of more than a 1000-fold are established by conserved mechanisms of biogenesis. Finally, our genomics analyses and direct reporter assays reveal that abundance determines function in piRNA-guided genome defense. Taken together, we identify an effective sequence space and untangle two classes of piRNAs that differ in complexity and function. The first class represents the topmost abundant sequences and drives silencing of genomic parasites. The second class sparsely covers an enormous sequence space. These rare piRNAs cannot function in every cell, every individual, or every generation but create diversity with potential for adaptation in the ongoing arms race with genome invaders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.