Katharine R. Cecchini

This study shows pachytene piRNAs predominantly cleave hundreds of transcripts but only significantly alter the steady-state abundance of a minority, suggesting their evolutionary retention is driven by a few critical targets.

This study shows PIWI-clade Argonaute proteins can cleave transposon transcripts with mismatches, making them more effective against mutating transposons than AGO-clade Argonautes.

This study shows that terminal modifications like 2'-O-methylation and trimming protect piRNAs from decay, while complementarity affects miRNA stability in mice and flies.

The paper shows that A-MYB activates TCFL5, which is essential for meiosis and spermiogenesis in placental mammals, and its loss causes sterility.

This study identifies a conserved piRNA locus, pi6, essential for male mouse fertility and embryo viability by regulating sperm function through mRNA cleavage.

The paper proposes a unified mechanism for piRNA biogenesis initiated by PIWI proteins, showing it operates across diverse animal species.