Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40361089›Full record

ArticleBMC biology2025

Limited impact of the siRNA pathway on transposable element expression in Aedes aegypti.

Alexander Bergman, Anna B Crist, Hélène Lopez-Maestre, Hervé Blanc, Mauro Castelló-Sanjuán, Lionel Frangeul, Hugo Varet, Josquin Daron, Sarah H Merkling, Maria-Carla Saleh and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Alexander BergmanInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France. alexander.bergman@pasteur.fr.
Anna B CristInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France.
Hélène Lopez-MaestreInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France.
Hervé BlancInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, Paris, France.
Mauro Castelló-SanjuánInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, Paris, France.
Lionel FrangeulInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, Paris, France.
Hugo VaretInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Paris, France.
Josquin DaronInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France.
Sarah H MerklingInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France.
Maria-Carla SalehInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, Paris, France.
Louis LambrechtsInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Insect-Virus Interactions Unit, Paris, France. louis.lambrechts@pasteur.fr.

Funding

Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEIDPasteur - Paris University International PhD Program PPU-Bergman
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTransposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that can change their position within a genome. In insects, small RNA pathways are central to the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of TE expression. The Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway is particularly important in germline tissues, where it silences TE transcripts via small RNAs of 24-30 nucleotides (nt) in length produced from genomic precursor transcripts as well as through a "ping-pong" amplification cycle. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) pathway helps restrict TE expression in somatic tissues via 21nt small RNAs produced from double-stranded RNA by the endonuclease Dicer2, which guide an RNA-induced silencing complex to degrade complementary RNAs. However, much of this knowledge comes from studies of the model insect Drosophila melanogaster. In the mosquito Aedes aegypti, a medically significant vector species, the siRNA pathway has mainly been investigated in connection with its antiviral role, leaving open whether it also regulates TE expression.

resultsWe investigated the expression of TEs and small RNAs in both somatic and gonadal tissues of a Dicer2 mutant line of Ae. aegypti and its wild-type counterpart. Our results show a modified pattern of TE expression and a decrease in TE-derived 21nt RNAs in the Dicer2 mutant, but no major shift of TE transcript abundance. The lack of a functional siRNA pathway also causes perturbations in piRNA ping-pong signatures and the expression of certain piRNA-associated genes, but without clear evidence for compensation by increased piRNA pathway activity.

conclusionsThe mosquito Ae. aegypti produces siRNAs derived from TEs but these lack a critical role in the regulation of TE expression both in somatic and in gonadal tissues.

Indexed as

AedesDNA Transposable ElementsRNA, Small InterferingAnimalsRibonuclease IIIDNA Transposable ElementsRibonuclease IIIRNA, Small InterferingAedes aegyptiDicer2MosquitopiRNA pathwaysiRNA pathwayTransposable element

Identifiers

PMID40361089
PMCPMC12076837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.