Fig. 7: Model depicting two types of genes with distinct transgenerational regulation.
From: Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery
Type I genes stably express a recombinant sequence (T, Tcherry, Tgfp, etc. described in this study) and yet can undergo permanent heritable change upon RNA silencing initiated using one of multiple methods (left column). Type II genes stably express a recombinant sequence (gtbp-1::gfp, mCherry::mex-5, etc. described in this study) and show (1) no change when subject to mating-induced silencing, (2) show silencing for a few generations followed by epigenetic recovery when subjected to dsRNA silencing, (3) show recovery from silencing followed by resistance when subject to trans silencing by another silenced gene. We propose that differential recruitment of regulators to the same coding sequence during the P0/F1 generation could explain cases of permanent heritable change versus recovery from change.
