High piRNA abundance is a hallmark of evolutionarily persistent piRNA-producing loci.

High piRNA abundance marks evolutionarily persistent piRNA-producing loci, with conserved orthologous loci producing the most piRNAs across three closely related mouse species.

• Why it matters: Rapid divergence of piRNA loci contrasts with rare conservation of both location and production, leaving unclear what molecular features maintain persistent loci.
• What they did: The study compared piRNA production at orthologous loci in three mouse species, contrasting loci producing piRNAs in all three versus only one, and tested transposon content, UTR features, and readthrough.
• The result: Conserved loci were linked to producing the most piRNAs, and the same association was observed in human and two other primate species, suggesting only the highly expressed minority may be functional.

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