Evolution of piRNA-guided defense against transposable elements

S Pritam, S Signor - Trends in Genetics, 2024 - cell.com
Transposable elements (TEs) shape every aspect of genome biology, influencing genome
stability, size, and organismal fitness. Following the 2007 discovery of the piRNA defense …

Double trouble: two retrotransposons triggered a cascade of invasions in Drosophila species within the last 50 years

A Scarpa, R Pianezza, HR Gellert, A Haider… - Nature …, 2025 - nature.com
Horizontal transfer of genetic material in eukaryotes has rarely been documented over short
evolutionary timescales. Here, we show that two retrotransposons, Shellder and Spoink …

GenomeDelta: detecting recent transposable element invasions without repeat library

R Pianezza, A Haider, R Kofler - Genome Biology, 2024 - Springer
We present GenomeDelta, a novel tool for identifying sample-specific sequences, such as
recent transposable element (TE) invasions, without requiring a repeat library. GenomeDelta …

Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s

R Pianezza, A Scarpa, P Narayanan, S Signor… - PLoS …, 2024 - journals.plos.org
During the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several
transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between …

Rapid evolution of promoters from germline-specifically expressed genes including transposon silencing factors

DWJ McQuarrie, A Alizada, BC Nicholson, M Soller - BMC genomics, 2024 - Springer
Background The piRNA pathway in animal gonads functions as an 'RNA-based immune
system', serving to silence transposable elements and prevent inheritance of novel invaders …

Traffic Jam activates the Flamenco piRNA cluster locus and the Piwi pathway to ensure transposon silencing and Drosophila fertility.

A Rivera, JHR Lee, S Gupta, L Yang, RK Goel, J Zaia… - bioRxiv, 2024 - biorxiv.org
Flamenco (Flam) is the most prominent piRNA cluster locus expressed in Drosophila
ovarian follicle cells, and it is required for female fertility to silence gypsy/mdg4 transposons …

Unistrand piRNA clusters are an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to suppress endogenous retroviruses across the Drosophila genus

J van Lopik, A Alizada, MA Trapotsi, GJ Hannon… - Nature …, 2023 - nature.com
Abstract The PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway prevents endogenous genomic
parasites, ie transposable elements, from damaging the genetic material of animal gonadal …

Sexual Dimorphism and Evolutionary Innovation in piRNA-Guided Genome Defense

P Chen - 2024 - search.proquest.com
The genome is a battleground, where different genetic elements vie for inheritance. In
particular, selfish genetic elements enhance their own transmission at the expense of host …

Evolution of Pirna Clusters in the Drosophila simulans

P Narayanan - 2024 - search.proquest.com
Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile DNA sequences that selfishly increase in copy
number in the genome. The transposition of TEs is largely deleterious, and to prevent this …