Mechanism of siRNA production from repetitive DNA #MMPMID25691092
Yang Q; Ye QA; Liu Y
Genes Dev 2015[Mar]; 29 (5): 526-37 PMID25691092show ga
Repetitive DNA loci are a major source for the production of eukaryotic small RNAs, but how these small RNAs are produced is not clear. Yang et al. show that DNA tandem repeats and double-strand breaks are necessary and, when both are present, sufficient to trigger gene silencing and siRNA production. In addition to siRNA production, the quelling pathway also maintains tandem repeats by regulating homologous recombination.