PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vrettos, Nicholas
AU  - Maragkakis, Manolis
AU  - Alexiou, Panagiotis
AU  - Sgourdou, Paraskevi
AU  - Ibrahim, Fadia
AU  - Palmieri, Daniel
AU  - Kirino, Yohei
AU  - Mourelatos, Zissimos
TI  - Modulation of Aub–TDRD interactions elucidates piRNA amplification and germplasm formation
AID  - 10.26508/lsa.202000912
DP  - 2021 Mar 01
TA  - Life Science Alliance
PG  - e202000912
VI  - 4
IP  - 3
4099  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/3/e202000912.short
4100  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/3/e202000912.full
SO  - Life Sci. Alliance2021 Mar 01; 4
AB  - Aub guided by piRNAs ensures genome integrity by cleaving retrotransposons, and genome propagation by trapping mRNAs to form the germplasm that instructs germ cell formation. Arginines at the N-terminus of Aub (Aub–NTRs) interact with Tudor and other Tudor domain–containing proteins (TDRDs). Aub–TDRD interactions suppress active retrotransposons via piRNA amplification and form germplasm via generation of Aub–Tudor ribonucleoproteins. Here, we show that Aub–NTRs are dispensable for primary piRNA biogenesis but essential for piRNA amplification and that their symmetric dimethylation is required for germplasm formation and germ cell specification but largely redundant for piRNA amplification.