C. elegans Heterochromatin Factor SET-32 Plays an Essential Role in Transgenerational Establishment of Nuclear RNAi-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing.

ABSTRACT: The dynamic process by which nuclear RNAi engages a transcriptionally active target, before the repressive state is stably established, remains largely a mystery. Here, we found that the onset of exogenous dsRNA-induced nuclear RNAi in C. elegans is a transgenerational process, and it requires a putative histone methyltransferase (HMT), SET-32. By developing a CRISPR-based genetic approach, we found that silencing establishment at the endogenous targets of germline nuclear RNAi also requires SET-32. Although SET-32 and two H3K9 HMTs, MET-2 and SET-25, are dispensable for the maintenance of silencing, they do contribute to transcriptional repression in mutants that lack the germline nuclear Argonaute protein HRDE-1, suggesting a conditional role of heterochromatin in the maintenance phase.

SUBMITTER: Kalinava N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6317888 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature