PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zeljko Durdevic
AU  - Ramesh S Pillai
AU  - Anne Ephrussi
TI  - Transposon silencing in the <em>Drosophila</em> female germline is essential for genome stability in progeny embryos
AID  - 10.26508/lsa.201800179
DP  - 2018 Oct 01
TA  - Life Science Alliance
PG  - e201800179
VI  - 1
IP  - 5
4099  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/1/5/e201800179.short
4100  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/1/5/e201800179.full
SO  - Life Sci. Alliance2018 Oct 01; 1
AB  - The Piwi-interacting RNA pathway functions in transposon control in the germline of metazoans. The conserved RNA helicase Vasa is an essential Piwi-interacting RNA pathway component, but has additional important developmental functions. Here, we address the importance of Vasa-dependent transposon control in the Drosophila female germline and early embryos. We find that transient loss of vasa expression during early oogenesis leads to transposon up-regulation in supporting nurse cells of the fly egg-chamber. We show that elevated transposon levels have dramatic consequences, as de-repressed transposons accumulate in the oocyte where they cause DNA damage. We find that suppression of Chk2-mediated DNA damage signaling in vasa mutant females restores oogenesis and egg production. Damaged DNA and up-regulated transposons are transmitted from the mother to the embryos, which sustain severe nuclear defects and arrest development. Our findings reveal that the Vasa-dependent protection against selfish genetic elements in the nuage of nurse cell is essential to prevent DNA damage–induced arrest of embryonic development.