Genetics

Irreproducibility of transgenerational learned pathogen-aversion response in C. elegans

1. D Patrick Gainey
2. Andrey V Shubin
3. Craig P Hunter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports numerous attempts to replicate reports on transgenerational inheritance of a learned behavior, pathogen avoidance, in C. elegans. While the authors observe parental effects that are limited to a single generation (also called intergenerational inheritance), the authors failed to find any evidence for transmission over multiple generations, or transgenerational inheritance. The experiments presented are meticulously described, making for compelling evidence that in the authors' hands transgenerational inheritance cannot be observed, although there remains the possibility that subtle differences in culture conditions or lab environment explain the failure to reproduce previous observations. Given the prominence of the original reports of transgenerational inheritance, the present study is of broad interest to anyone studying genetics, epigenetics, or learned behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

DNA replication in primary hepatocytes without the six-subunit ORC

1. Róża K. Przanowska
2. Yuechuan Chen
3. Takayuki-Okano Uchida
4. Etsuko Shibata
5. Xiaoxiao Hao
6. Isaac Segura Rueda
7. Kate Jensen
8. Piotr Przanowski
9. Anthony Trimboli
10. Yoshiyuki Shibata
11. Gustavo Leone
12. Anindya Dutta

Reviewed by Review Commons

The role of heterochronic gene expression and regulatory architecture in early developmental divergence

1. Nathan D Harry
2. Christina Zakas

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study examines the extent to which distinct developmental pathways that result in alternative morphs correlate with transcriptome differences in a marine annelid, Streblospio benedicti. The strengths of the study include the experimental design and dense temporal sampling, which together provide convincing evidence that the two morphs can be clearly distinguished at the transcriptome level, despite relatively modest overall differences. The work will be of particular interest to students of the evolution of development.

Reviewed by eLife

TRPγ regulates lipid metabolism through Dh44 neuroendocrine cells

1. Dharmendra Kumar Nath
2. Subash Dhakal
3. Youngseok Lee

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study using Drosophila genetics explores the role of TRPγ in Dh44 neuroendocrine cells for lipid and protein metabolism. Evidence for lipid storage and metabolism measured by triacylglycerol levels, lipid droplet size, and starvation resistance are generally solid to support the conclusion. However, the claim on the TRPγ functions in Dh44R2 is still unclear, as the analysis of the role and expression of Dh44R2 in the gut is incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Deficiency of IQCH causes male infertility in humans and mice

1. Tiechao Ruan
2. Ruixi Zhou
3. Yihong Yang
4. Junchen Guo
5. Chuan Jiang
6. Xiang Wang
7. Gan Shen
8. Siyu Dai
9. Suren Chen
10. Ying Shen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study describes mice with a knock out of the IQ motif-containing H (IQCH) gene, to model a human loss-of-function mutation in IQCH associated with male sterility. While the evidence for interaction between IQCH and potential RNA binding proteins is limited, the human infertility is reproduced in the mouse, making it a compelling model. The paper could be of interest to cell biologists and male reproductive biologists working on the sperm flagellar cytoskeleton and mitochondrial structure.

Reviewed by eLife

Target-specific requirements for RNA interference can arise through restricted RNA amplification despite the lack of specialized pathways

1. Daphne R Knudsen-Palmer
2. Pravrutha Raman
3. Farida Ettefa
4. Laura De Ravin
5. Antony M Jose

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study shows how an intersecting network of regulators acting on genes with differences in their RNA metabolism explains why the loss of some regulators of RNAi in C. elegans can selectively impair the silencing of some target genes. The evidence presented is convincing, as the authors use a combination of computational modeling and RNAi assays to support their conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolutionary adaptation of an HP1-protein chromodomain integrates chromatin and DNA sequence signals

1. Lisa Baumgartner
2. Jonathan J Ipsaro
3. Ulrich Hohmann
4. Dominik Handler
5. Alexander Schleiffer
6. Peter Duchek
7. Julius Brennecke

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental work has completed our understanding of the singular binding profile of the Rhino HP1 protein to chromatin, a key step in converting certain genomic regions into piRNA source loci. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling. Phylogenetic analyses, structure prediction, rigorous biochemical assays and in vivo genetics emphasize the importance of the Rhino chromodomain in the recognition of both a histone mark and a DNA-binding protein, and highlight the importance of a single chromodomain residue in the protein-protein interaction.

Reviewed by eLife

The retrotransposon - derived capsid genes PNMA1 and PNMA4 maintain reproductive capacity

1. Thomas W.P. Wood
2. William S. Henriques
3. Harrison B. Cullen
4. Mayra Romero
5. Cecilia S. Blengini
6. Shreya Sarathy
7. Julia Sorkin
8. Hilina Bekele
9. Chen Jin
10. Seungsoo Kim
11. Alexei Chemiakine
12. Rishad C. Khondker
13. José V.V. Isola
14. Michael B. Stout
15. Vincenzo A. Gennarino
16. Binyam Mogessie
17. Devanshi Jain
18. Karen Schindler
19. Yousin Suh
20. Blake Wiedenheft
21. Luke E. Berchowitz

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Insights into Immune Gene Prediction and Function Through the Evolutionary History of ADF Gene Family

1. Huan Chen
2. Brad Day

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Stem-loop and circle-loop TADs generated by directional pairing of boundary elements have distinct physical and regulatory properties

1. Wenfan Ke
2. Miki Fujioka
3. Paul Schedl
4. James B Jaynes

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable work investigates the role of boundary elements in the formation of 3D genome architecture. The authors established a specific model system that allowed them to manipulate boundary elements and examine the resulting genome topology. The work yielded the first demonstration of the existence of stem and circle loops in a genome and confirms a model which had been posited based on extensive prior genetic work, providing insights into how 3D genome topologies affect enhancer-promoter communication. The evidence is solid, although the degree of generalization remains uncertain.

Reviewed by eLife