Figure 6From: The Tudor domain protein Tapas, a homolog of the vertebrate Tdrd7, functions in the piRNA pathway to regulate retrotransposons in germline of Drosophila melanogasterThe tap gene is required for robust piRNA production against germline transposable elements, while tap along with tej is required to maintain piRNA population in germline. (A) Abundance of genome-matching unique reads, 21 to 29 nucleotides in length, in tap125-, tej48-5- and tej48-5-tap125-mutant ovaries and their respective heterozygous controls. The tap mutants showed reduced numbers of 23- to 29-nucloetide small RNAs, but the tej48-5-tap125 double mutants showed the most severe reduction in comparison to both single mutants. (B) Mapping of the 23- to 29-nucloetide sequences to bidirectional piRNA clusters at 20B3 and 42AB, and a single-strand piRNA cluster, flamenco. A feeble reduction in bidirectional cluster mapping piRNAs in tap125 mutants was discernible compared to tej48-5 mutants, while tej48-5-tap125 double mutants had a greater reduction than both single mutants.Back to article page