Cruz Cristina, Houseley Jonathan
Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Elife. 2014 Feb 11;3:e01581. doi: 10.7554/eLife.01581.
A plethora of non-protein coding RNAs are produced throughout eukaryotic genomes, many of which are transcribed antisense to protein-coding genes and could potentially instigate RNA interference (RNAi) responses. Here we have used a synthetic RNAi system to show that gene copy number is a key factor controlling RNAi for transcripts from endogenous loci, since transcripts from multi-copy loci form double stranded RNA more efficiently than transcripts from equivalently expressed single-copy loci. Selectivity towards transcripts from high-copy DNA is therefore an emergent property of a minimal RNAi system. The ability of RNAi to selectively degrade transcripts from high-copy loci would allow suppression of newly emerging transposable elements, but such a surveillance system requires transcription. We show that low-level genome-wide pervasive transcription is sufficient to instigate RNAi, and propose that pervasive transcription is part of a defense mechanism capable of directing a sequence-independent RNAi response against transposable elements amplifying within the genome. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01581.001.
真核生物基因组中会产生大量非蛋白质编码RNA,其中许多是与蛋白质编码基因反向转录的,可能会引发RNA干扰(RNAi)反应。在这里,我们使用了一种合成RNAi系统来表明基因拷贝数是控制内源性基因座转录本RNAi的关键因素,因为多拷贝基因座的转录本比同等表达的单拷贝基因座的转录本更有效地形成双链RNA。因此,对高拷贝DNA转录本的选择性是最小RNAi系统的一个新兴特性。RNAi选择性降解高拷贝基因座转录本的能力将有助于抑制新出现的转座元件,但这样的监测系统需要转录。我们表明,全基因组范围的低水平普遍转录足以引发RNAi,并提出普遍转录是一种防御机制的一部分,该防御机制能够针对基因组内扩增的转座元件引发不依赖序列的RNAi反应。DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01581.001 。