Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41922845›Full record

ArticleEMBO reports2026

Conserved but mechanistically diverse piRNA defence against endogenous retroviruses in insects.

Shashank Chary, Patricia E Carreira, Sarah Nicholas, Kathryn B McNamara, Ian A Cockburn, Karin Nordström, Therésa M Jones, Rosalyn Gloag, Alyson Ashe, Leon E Hugo and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EMBO reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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.

Shashank CharyThe Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.
Patricia E CarreiraDivision of Immunology and Infectious Disease, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2802-4533
Sarah NicholasFlinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5555-9421
Kathryn B McNamaraSchool of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Ian A CockburnDivision of Immunology and Infectious Disease, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.
Karin NordströmFlinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6020-6348
Therésa M JonesSchool of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Rosalyn GloagSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2037-4267
Alyson AsheCharles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New, 2006, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7334-0389
Leon E HugoThe Mosquito Control Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia.
Rippei HayashiThe Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia. rippei.hayashi@anu.edu.au.ORCID 0000-0002-5848-9019

Funding

Department of Education and Training | Australian Research Council (ARC) DP210102385
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Defence systems against genetic mobile elements are highly adaptable, yet their long-term evolutionary stability remains unclear. To address this, we examined the conservation of Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA)-mediated defence against envelope-carrying gypsy long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons across insects beyond Drosophila. We show that Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito) and Anopheles stephensi (Asian malaria mosquito), as well as Tetragonula carbonaria (stingless bees), Acheta domesticus (house cricket) and Teleogryllus oceanicus (Pacific field cricket), all produce piRNAs targeting gypsy elements in ovarian somatic cells-the same cellular niche where Drosophila mounts piRNA defence against gypsy-indicating a persistent arms race for more than 400 million years of insect evolution. Notably, in Aedes aegypti, ovarian somatic cells express the same piRNA clusters as other somatic tissues, where they are known to target RNA viruses-suggesting a shared origin of anti-viral and anti-retrotransposon defences. Furthermore, we observe lineage-specific differences in ovarian somatic piRNA biogenesis: slicing-independent phasing appears to dominate in dipterans, ping-pong amplification in bees, and slicing-dependent phasing in crickets. Together, these findings indicate that distinct piRNA pathways have independently evolved at different timepoints to silence the same class of retrotransposons in insect evolution.

Indexed as

Endogenous RetrovirusesPiwi-Interacting RNARNA, Small InterferingAedesAnimalsEvolution, MolecularFemaleOvaryPhylogenyRetroelementsTerminal Repeat SequencesPiwi-Interacting RNARetroelementsRNA, Small Interferingenvelope-carrying retrotransposonsHost Transposon ArmsracepiRNA-guided Gene Silencing

Identifiers

PMID41922845
PMCPMC13172572

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.