Current Biology
Volume 27, Issue 19, 9 October 2017, Pages 3010-3016.e3
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Retrotransposons Mimic Germ Plasm Determinants to Promote Transgenerational Inheritance

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.036Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Retrotransposons in flies and fish migrate to the oocyte germ plasm

  • Retroelements traffic to the germ plasm using molecular mimicry

  • Retroelements in metazoans may target the germ plasm as a general fitness strategy

Summary

Retrotransposons are a pervasive class of mobile elements present in the genomes of virtually all forms of life [1, 2]. In metazoans, these are preferentially active in the germline, which, in turn, mounts defenses that restrain their activity [3, 4]. Here we report that certain classes of retrotransposons ensure transgenerational inheritance by invading presumptive germ cells before they are formed. Using sensitized Drosophila and zebrafish models, we found that diverse classes of retrotransposons migrate to the germ plasm, a specialized region of the oocyte that prefigures germ cells and specifies the germline of descendants in the fertilized egg. In Drosophila, we found evidence for a “stowaway” model, whereby Tahre retroelements traffic to the germ plasm by mimicking oskar RNAs and engaging the Staufen-dependent active transport machinery. Consistent with this, germ plasm determinants attracted retroelement RNAs even when these components were ectopically positioned in bipolar oocytes. Likewise, vertebrate retrotransposons similarly migrated to the germ plasm in zebrafish oocytes. Together, these results suggest that germ plasm targeting represents a fitness strategy adopted by some retrotransposons to ensure transgenerational propagation.

Keywords

transposons
mobile elements
germ plasm
germline
p53
oocyte
molecular mimicry
transgenerational inheritance
Staufen
oskar

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