The rde-1 gene locus was first characterized in C. elegans mutants resistant to RNAi, and is a member of a highly conserved Piwi gene family that includes plant, Drosophila, and vertebrate homologs.
Only 5 were selected, Diego "El Gato" Reynoso (goalkeeper), Guillermo "RBD" Guzmán (defender), Carlos "Piwi" Godínez and Anibal "Robinho" Cruz (midfielder) and Giovanni "Guardadito" Pérez (striker).
Short RNAs are well-known to silence TEs (transposable elements) through the RNAi (RNA interference) pathway, and Piwi-associated RNAs (piRNAs) play a crucial role in transposon silencing in the germline.
They are found in nurse cells of the developing Drosophila melanogaster egg chamber and are composed of various types of proteins, including RNA-helicases, Tudor domain proteins, Piwi-clade Argonaute proteins, in addition to a PRMT5 methylosome composed of Capsuléen and its co-factor, Valois (MEP50).
Canonical Argonaute proteins possess three primary domains forming a crescent-shaped base: the PAZ, MID, and PIWI domains.
Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), the largest class of the small RNAs, are between 26 and 31 nucleotides in length and function through interactions with piwi proteins from the Argonaute protein family (gene silencing proteins).