Date:
April 27, 2017
Source:
University of Rochester Medical Center
Our
bodies are constantly under siege by foreign invaders; viruses, bacteria and
parasites that want to infiltrate our cells. A new study in the journal eLife
sheds light on how germ cells -- sperm and egg -- protect themselves from these
attackers so that they can pass accurate genetic information to the next
generation.
Researchers
from the University of Rochester Center for RNA Biology: From Genome to Therapeutics
examined the role of piRNA in safeguarding the integrity of the genetic
information in germ cells. It's known that piRNA -- a type of ribonucleic acid
(RNA) that's found most readily in the testes and ovaries -- shields germ cells
by silencing the genetic sequences of viral intruders. It's also known that
defects or mutations in piRNA lead to infertility in humans and other animals.
What's not known is how piRNAs are generated in the first place.
A
team led by Xin Li, Ph.D., assistant professor in the departments of
Biochemistry and Biophysics and Urology at the University of Rochester School
of Medicine and Dentistry, analyzed rooster testes to find out.
Chickens
acquire and harbor a wide variety of viruses. When a virus infects a host, like
a chicken, it does everything it can to survive. One method of survival is
inserting its genetic material into the chicken's genome. Over generations, the
inserted virus accumulates mutations and eventually becomes harmless to the
animal, but it's still a part of the chicken's genetic material.
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