Caenorhabditis elegans
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA232035 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Similar Datasets
Project description:Vasa is a highly conserved member of the ATP-dependent DEAD box helicase family, a multipotency factor, and a critical component for the specification and maintenance of the germline. Its homologs have been shown to regulate translation, small RNA amplification, and serve as a molecular solvent for single-stranded RNA; however, the function of Vasa’s defining domains and what they interact with are unclear. To address this, 28 mutant alleles of the C. elegans Vasa homolog GLH-1 were generated in conserved motifs. Mutations in the flanking and helicase domains show that GLH-1 retains its association with P granules through its helicase activity and not through static interactions with other P-granule proteins. Changes outside of these domains retain GLH-1 in P granules but still compromise fertility, and removal of glycine-rich repeats progressively diminish P-granule wetting-like interactions at the nuclear periphery. A mutation that facilitates Vasa aggregation was previously leveraged in insects and mammals to identify the transient association of Vasa with piRNA amplifying Argonautes. This same mutation in GLH-1 also stimulates aggregation and association with Argonautes, suggesting that the transient amplifying complex is evolutionarily conserved even though the method of piRNA amplification in C. elegans is not. Mass spectrometry analysis of proteins that co-immunoprecipitate with wild type and mutant GLH-1 reveal an affinity for all three PCI (26S Proteasome Lid, COP9, eIF3) scaffolding complexes, which regulate protein turnover and translation, and an aversion for ribosomes and the 26S proteasome core. These results suggest that phase-separated P granules compartmentalize the cytoplasm to exclude large protein assemblies and emphasize the role of Vasa homologs in maintaining proteostasis.
2019-06-07 | PXD014135 | Pride
Project description:Animal germ cells employ small RNA-based mechanisms to recognize and silence DNA that invades their genome. One of these pathways is named the Piwi:piRNA pathway. Biogenesis of piRNAs is poorly understood. In C. elegans, the piRNA (21U-RNA)-binding Argonaute protein PRG-1 is the only known player acting downstream of pre-cursor transcription. From a screen aimed at the isolation of ‘piRNA-induced silencing defective’ mutations we identified, amongst known Piwi-pathway components like MUT-7, RDE-3 and HRDE-1, PID-1 as a novel player. PID-1 is essential for 21U RNA biogenesis and affects an early step in the processing or transport of 21U precursor transcripts.
2014-03-17 | GSE55309 | GEO
Project description:Piwi proteins and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are best known for their roles in suppressing transposons and promoting fertility. Yet piRNA biogenesis and its mechanisms of action differ widely between distantly related species. To better understand the evolution of piRNAs, we characterized the piRNA pathway in C. briggsae, a sibling species of the model organism C. elegans. Our analyses define 25,883 piRNA producing-loci in C. briggsae. piRNA sequences in C. briggsae are extremely divergent from their counterparts in C. elegans, yet both species adopt similar genomic organization and transcription program that drive piRNA expression. By examining production of Piwi-dependent secondary small RNAs, we identified a set of protein-coding genes that are evolutionarily conserved piRNA targets. In contrast to C. elegans, small RNAs mapped to ribosomal RNAs or histone transcripts are not hyper-accumulated in C. briggsae. Instead, we found that fewer introns in transcripts are associated with hyper-accumulation of small RNAs. Together our work highlights evolutionary conservation and divergence of the nematode piRNA pathway and provides insights into its role in endogenous gene regulation.
2022-08-23 | GSE203297 | GEO
Project description:LOTUS and Tudor domain containing proteins have critical roles in the germline. Proteins that contain these domains, such as Tejas/Tapas in Drosophila, help localize Vasa to the germ granules and facilitate piRNA transposon mediated silencing. The homologous proteins in mammals, TDRD5 and TDRD7, are required during spermiogenesis. Until now, LOTUS + Tudor domain proteins in C. elegans have remained elusive. Here we describe LOTR-1 (D1081.7), which derives its name from its LOTUS and Tudor domains. Interestingly, LOTR-1 docks next to P granules to colocalize with the Z-granule component ZNFX-1. LOTR-1’s Z-granule association requires its Tudor domain, but both LOTUS and Tudor deletions affect brood size when coupled with a knockdown of the Vasa homolog glh-1. LOTR-1 IP-mass spectrometry confirmed a Tudor-dependent association with Z-granule proteins ZNFX-1 and WAGO-1, but also with germ-granule proteins DEPS-1, the piRNA Argonaute PRG-1, and other WAGO-class Argonautes. Like znfx-1, lotr-1 mutants redistribute the coverage of 22G-RNAs toward the 5’ end of mutator targets and impact transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Unlike znfx-1, the 5’ shift in 22G-RNA coverage does not extend to CSR-1 targets. Combined, these results suggest that LOTR-1 facilitates interactions between PRG-1/WAGO-class Argonautes, ZNFX-1 and target 3’UTRs to balance 22G-RNA distribution across mutator targets.
2022-05-28 | PXD025186 | Pride
Project description:Animal germ cells employ small RNA-based mechanisms to recognize and silence DNA that invades their genome. One of these pathways is named the Piwi:piRNA pathway. Biogenesis of piRNAs is poorly understood. In C. elegans, the piRNA (21U-RNA)-binding Argonaute protein PRG-1 is the only known player acting downstream of pre-cursor transcription. From a screen aimed at the isolation of M-bM-^@M-^XpiRNA-induced silencing defectiveM-bM-^@M-^Y mutations we identified, amongst known Piwi-pathway components like MUT-7, RDE-3 and HRDE-1, PID-1 as a novel player. PID-1 is essential for 21U RNA biogenesis and affects an early step in the processing or transport of 21U precursor transcripts. 12 small RNA samples were analyzed as singletons.
2014-03-17 | E-GEOD-55309 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:piRNAs are required to maintain germline integrity and fertility but their mechanism of action is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that C. elegans piRNAs silence transcripts in trans through imperfectly complementary sites. We find that target silencing is independent of Piwi endonuclease activity or “slicing”. Instead, we show that piRNAs initiate a localized secondary endogenous small interfering RNA (endo-siRNA) response. Endogenous protein-coding gene, pseudogene and transposon transcripts exhibit Piwi-dependent endo-siRNAs at sites complementary to piRNAs and are derepressed in Piwi mutants. Genomic loci of piRNA biogenesis are depleted of protein-coding genes but not pseudogenes or transposons. Our data suggest that nematode piRNA clusters are evolving to generate piRNAs against active mobile elements. Thus, piRNAs provide heritable, sequence-specific triggers for RNAi in C. elegans. Affymetrix mRNA expression data from wild-type and two independent prg-1;prg-2 double mutant C. elegans strains (mRNA)
2012-06-17 | E-GEOD-37432 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:piRNAs are required to maintain germline integrity and fertility but their mechanism of action is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that C. elegans piRNAs silence transcripts in trans through imperfectly complementary sites. We find that target silencing is independent of Piwi endonuclease activity or “slicing”. Instead, we show that piRNAs initiate a localized secondary endogenous small interfering RNA (endo-siRNA) response. Endogenous protein-coding gene, pseudogene and transposon transcripts exhibit Piwi-dependent endo-siRNAs at sites complementary to piRNAs and are derepressed in Piwi mutants. Genomic loci of piRNA biogenesis are depleted of protein-coding genes but not pseudogenes or transposons. Our data suggest that nematode piRNA clusters are evolving to generate piRNAs against active mobile elements. Thus, piRNAs provide heritable, sequence-specific triggers for RNAi in C. elegans.
2012-06-18 | GSE37432 | GEO
Project description:Function of a sex-chromosome derived piRNA inCaenorhabditis elegans
| PRJNA398958 | ENA
Project description:piRNAs are required to maintain germline integrity and fertility but their mechanism of action is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that C. elegans piRNAs silence transcripts in trans through imperfectly complementary sites. We find that target silencing is independent of Piwi endonuclease activity or “slicing”. Instead, we show that piRNAs initiate a localized secondary endogenous small interfering RNA (endo-siRNA) response. Endogenous protein-coding gene, pseudogene and transposon transcripts exhibit Piwi-dependent endo-siRNAs at sites complementary to piRNAs and are derepressed in Piwi mutants. Genomic loci of piRNA biogenesis are depleted of protein-coding genes but not pseudogenes or transposons. Our data suggest that nematode piRNA clusters are evolving to generate piRNAs against active mobile elements. Thus, piRNAs provide heritable, sequence-specific triggers for RNAi in C. elegans.
2012-06-18 | GSE28617 | GEO