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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 May 16.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2016 Nov 16;539(7630):588–592. doi: 10.1038/nature20162

Figure 4. An Argonaute-only pathway generates piRNAs in the absence of Zucchini and Nibbler.

Figure 4

a) Normalized 5' and 3' end counts (ppm) of piRNAs isolated from ovaries with indicated genetic background mapping to a ~100-nt sequence of Doc.

b) Normalized 5' and 3' end counts (ppm) of piRNAs from Zucchini/Nibbler-depleted ovaries mapping to a biogenesis reporter with two (top) or three (bottom) piRNA target sites.

c) Boxplots displaying Z-score distributions of 3'/5' coupling and 3'/5' ping-pong for piRNAs from ovaries of indicated genotype (n=11 germline TEs that maintain piRNA production in Zucchini/Nibbler-depleted ovaries).

d, e) Displayed are 5' and 3' ends of piRNAs—isolated from Zucchini/Nibbler-depleted (d) or from Zucchini-depleted (e) ovaries—that map within a 40-nt window surrounding ping-pong responder piRNA 5' ends (position 0). Heat maps sorted first by dominant responder piRNA length and then by abundance. The sum of all 3' ends and all 5' ends per line is 100%.

f) Northern blot analysis of piRNAs with dominant length of 21, 26, or 32 nt in Zucchini/Nibbler-depleted ovaries.