Figure 1. Knocking out IIS pathway promotes repetitive transgene silencing.

(A) Expression levels of the repetitive transgene otIs356 [rab-3p(prom1)::2xNLS::TagRFP] across various genetic backgrounds, as indicated on the x-axis. Each data point represents an individual animal. Statistical significance was determined by non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test followed by pairwise Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests with Benjamini–Hochberg correction. Numbers indicate q-values. Error represents mean +/- SD. (B) Scatter plot showing gene expression in wild-type and daf-2 (1370) mutants. The read counts were normalized using Relative Log Expression method. 62 genes with known roles in RNAi regulation are highlighted in blue. (C) Differential expression of RNAi-related genes in daf-2 ( e1370 ) mutants relative to wild type (q < 0.05, DESeq2). Dashed lines denote log₂ fold-change thresholds of +/- 0.5. (D) A model illustrating the roles of insulin/IGF-1 signaling and PALS-22 in regulating transgene silencing.