Abstract. Phenotypic variation in species arises from genetic differences and environmental influences on gene expression. Differences in epigenetic modifi

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are critical for transposon silencing and genome integrity, as well as gene expression regulation and antiviral immunity in metazoans, yet the molecular mechanisms governing their biogenesis remain incompletely understood. The participation of the splicing-associated process in piRNA biogenesis has been emphasized in multiple species, but the key factors and mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we identified SUGP1 (SURP and G-Patch Domain Containing 1) in BmE (a unique model cell system with a complete piRNA biogenesis pathway) as a key splicing factor that functions in piRNA biogenesis. Through CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene knockdown in cultured cells combined with RNA-seq, small RNA-seq, and IP-mass spectrometry (IP-MS), our results reveal that SUGP1 deficiency disrupts piRNA accumulation, alters mature piRNA length distributions, and activates transposon expression. Immunofluorescence and Western blot (WB) analyses further demonstrate that SUGP1 interacts with Y-box protein (YBP), which is key regulators of RNA metabolism. Functional validation in Drosophila SUGP1-RNAi lines highlights evolutionary conserved and species-specific roles of SUGP1 in piRNA maturation. Collectively, our data uncover a dual role for silkworm SUGP1 in coordinating YBP-dependent piRNA biogenesis, thus elucidating a novel mechanistic framework for piRNA pathway regulation. Our work also underscores the silkworm as a unique model for studying non-canonical piRNA biogenesis mechanisms, with implications for treating transposon dysregulation-linked diseases.

Maternal storage is a fundamental feature of female gametes and is essential for maintaining oocyte quality and preserving developmental competence. Embryonic development relies on maternally deposite...

Position Summary This position will be in the lab of Dr. Joseph E. Peters in the Department of Microbiology. Research in the Peters’ lab broadly involves deciphering mechanisms in genome stability and...

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes mobilize nucleosomes, but how such mobilization affects chromatin condensation is unclear. We investigate effects of two major remod...

Abstract. Transposable elements (TEs) are repetitive sequences capable of mobilizing within genomes, exerting a significant influence on evolution througho

An emerging hallmark of disease is transcription of pathogen-associated molecular patterns from within the genome–known as viral mimicry. We propose a statistical physics framework to measure “selecti...

Gene redundancy complicates systematic characterization of gene function as single-gene deletions may not produce discernible phenotypes. We report dual transposon sequencing (dual Tn-seq), a platform...

Genes are often activated by enhancers located at large genomic distances, and the importance of this positioning is poorly understood. By relocating promoter-reporter constructs into thousands of alt...

Deltaviruses are subviral agents of animals, which, in humans, require a hepadnavirus helper for transmission. The absence of deltavirus-like endogeno…

By integrating phylogenetic relationships derived from nuclear DNA with population genetic analyses across ten pufferfish species, the genetic differentiation mechanisms underpinning the radiative sp....

Genomic imprinting, the preferential expression of alleles based on their parent-of-origin, is an epigenetic mechanism that plays a key role in endosp…

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are short, non-autonomous class II transposable elements prevalent in eukaryotic genomes, contributing to various genomic and genic functions i...