piRNA biogenesis and its functions

Abstract

piRNAs (piwi-interacting RNA) are a novel class of non-coding small single-stranded RNAs with the length of 26-33 nt. The piRNAs play important biological role through the specific interaction with the piwi proteins of the Argonaute family. piRNA function in embryonic development, maintenance of germline DNA integrity, silencing of transposon transcription, suppressionof translation, formation of heterochromatin, and epigenetic regulation of sex determination. This review summarizes recent research and progress on biogenesis and function of piRNA in eukaryotic species.