Mutator Foci Are Regulated by Developmental Stage, RNA, and the Germline Cell Cycle in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: RNA interference is a crucial gene regulatory mechanism in Caenorhabditis elegans Phase-separated perinuclear germline compartments called Mutator foci are a key element of RNAi, ensuring robust gene silencing and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Despite their importance, Mutator foci regulation is not well understood, and observations of Mutator foci have been largely limited to adult hermaphrodite germlines. Here we reveal that punctate Mutator foci arise in the progenitor germ cells of early embryos and persist throughout all larval stages. They are additionally present throughout the male germline and in the cytoplasm of post-meiotic spermatids, suggestive of a role in paternal epigenetic inheritance. In the adult germline, transcriptional in

SUBMITTER: Uebel CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7534428 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature