Department of Physiology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA.
Genes Dev. 2013 Jan 15;27(2):145-50. doi: 10.1101/gad.209494.112.
Quelling is an RNAi-related phenomenon that post-transcriptionally silences repetitive DNA and transposons in Neurospora. We previously identified a type of DNA damage-induced small RNA called qiRNA that originates from ribosomal DNA. To understand how small RNAs are generated from repetitive DNA, we carried out a genetic screen to identify genes required for qiRNA biogenesis. Factors directly involved in homologous recombination (HR) and chromatin remodeling factors required for HR are essential for qiRNA production. HR is also required for quelling, and quelling is also the result of DNA damage, indicating that quelling and qiRNA production share a common mechanism. Together, our results suggest that DNA damage-triggered HR-based recombination allows the RNAi pathway to recognize repetitive DNA to produce small RNA.
沉默是一种与 RNAi 相关的现象,它在后转录水平上沉默 Neurospora 中的重复 DNA 和转座子。我们之前鉴定了一种称为 qiRNA 的由核糖体 DNA 产生的、由 DNA 损伤诱导的小 RNA。为了了解小 RNA 是如何从重复 DNA 中产生的,我们进行了遗传筛选,以鉴定 qiRNA 生物发生所需的基因。直接参与同源重组 (HR) 的因子和 HR 所需的染色质重塑因子对于 qiRNA 的产生是必需的。HR 也被需要用于沉默,而沉默也是 DNA 损伤的结果,这表明沉默和 qiRNA 的产生共享一个共同的机制。总之,我们的结果表明,DNA 损伤触发的基于 HR 的重组使得 RNAi 途径能够识别重复 DNA 以产生小 RNA。