Transgenerational inheritance of an acquired small RNA-based antiviral response in C. elegans
Authors: Oliver Hobert
Oded Rechavi
Gregory Minevich
Journal: Cell (2011)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: Flock House virus; C. elegans; viRNAs; RNAi-dependent; transgenerational inheritance
Affiliations: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA. 

Abstract:  Induced expression of the Flock House virus in the soma of C. elegans results in the RNAi-dependent production of virus-derived, small-interfering RNAs (viRNAs), which in turn silence the viral genome. We show here that the viRNA-mediated viral silencing effect is transmitted in a non-Mendelian manner to many ensuing generations. We show that the viral silencing agents, viRNAs, are transgenerationally transmitted in a template-independent manner and work in trans to silence viral genomes present in animals that are deficient in producing their own viRNAs. These results provide evidence for the transgenerational inheritance of an acquired trait, induced by the exposure of animals to a specific, biologically relevant physiological challenge. The ability to inherit such extragenic information may provide adaptive benefits to an animal. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 2A: More similar than expected after rotating the image (not pixel by pixel, but it looks like worms were from the same plate). Could authors check this issue, please? ![file] Comparison (DIC): ![file] Comparison (GFP): ![file] , 
 First and foremost, the scoring of GFP expression was not done based on the images taken, but based on counting of live worms on plates at the scope (at least 50 worms were counted for each condition).u00a0The figures show schematics of crosses and exemplary images of parental strains and ensuing generations. The two panels under question that show GFP(+) worms are control conditions in which theu00a0genotype is always rde-1(-). Due to the similar genotype it is possible that during the figure s assembly the images of the same plate were displayed in the scheme side by side, even though the scoring was done on different plates. We found two earlier versions of Figure 2a with different images (attached), and we can not reconstruct why different images were swapped in later. But as stated above, since the scoring was not based on the images, but on examination of live worms under the scope, these images do not have an impact on the data points presented. ![file] ![file] , 
 Authors mention in the Discussion that Intriguingly, our deep sequencing of rde-4(u2212 u2212) animals not only identified transgenerationally transmitted viRNA molecules but also suggests that several classes of rde-4-dependent endo-siRNAs may be inherited **(O.R., G.M., and O.H., unpublished data)**, indicating that the transmission of extrachromosomal information may be a common phenomenon. . In the following study, (Rechavi et al., 2014, doi.org 10.1016 j.cell.2014.06.020), this concept is shown, and the RNA-seq data of rde-4 mutant was finally published, however, G.M. was not included as co-author, and is not mentioned in the Acknowledgments section. ,