Fig. 4.

RNAi machinery plays an essential role to suppress gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs) at the centromeres. Illustrated is the RNAi system that utilizes small RNAs and facilitates H3K9 methylation at the centromeres. GCR rates of wild-type, clr4∆, ago1∆, chp1∆, tas3∆, arb1∆, arb2∆, rdp1∆, and dcr1∆ strains (TNF5676, 5702, 5688, 5708, 7335, 7337, 7331, 7333, and 5687, respectively) are shown. The two-tailed Mann–Whitney test. ****P < 0.0001. ncRNA, noncoding RNA. arb2∆ caused a higher rate of GCRs than arb1∆ (P < 0.05), suggesting that Arb2 has an Arb1-independent function to suppress GCRs