The nuclear Argonaute HRDE-1 directs target gene re-localization and shuttles to nuage to promote small RNA-mediated inherited silencing.

ABSTRACT: Argonaute/small RNA pathways and heterochromatin work together to propagate transgenerational gene silencing, but the mechanisms behind their interaction are not well understood. Here, we show that induction of heterochromatin silencing in C. elegans by RNAi or by artificially tethering pathway components to target RNA causes co-localization of target alleles in pachytene nuclei. Tethering the nuclear Argonaute WAGO-9/HRDE-1 induces heterochromatin formation and independently induces small RNA amplification. Consistent with this finding, HRDE-1, while predominantly nuclear, also localizes to peri-nuclear nuage domains, where amplification is thought to occur. Tethering a heterochromatin-silencing factor, NRDE-2, induces heterochromatin formation, which subsequently causes de novo synthesis

SUBMITTER: Ding YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10443184 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature