Chromatin Modifiers SET-25 and SET-32 Are Required for Establishment but Not Long-Term Maintenance of Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance

• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.10.085
• Publication Date: 2018-11-20T15:41:46Z
• Authors: Rachel M. Woodhouse; Gabriele Buchmann; Matthew Hoe; Dylan J. Harney; Jason K.K. Low; Mark Larance; Peter R. Boag; Alyson Ashe
• Keywords: Inheritance; Argonaute; Transgenerational epigenetics

Some epigenetic modifications are inherited from one generation to the next, providing a potential mechanism for inheritance of environmentally acquired traits. Transgenerational RNAi phenotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans provides an excellent model study this phenomenon, and although studies have implicated both chromatin small RNA pathways heritable silencing, their relative contributions remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that putative histone methyltransferases SET-25 SET-32 required establishment transgenerational silencing signal but not long-term maintenance between subsequent generations, suggesting is multi-step process with distinct genetic requirements silencing. Furthermore, sequencing reveals abundance secondary siRNAs (thought be effector molecules silencing) does correlate phenotypes. Together, our results suggest current mechanistic models incomplete.