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.
Project description:The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans contains each of the broad classes of eukaryotic small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), endogenous small-interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) and piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). To better understand the evolution of these regulatory RNAs, we deep sequenced small RNAs from C. elegans and three closely related nematodes: C. briggsae, C. remanei and C. brenneri. The results reveal a fluid landscape of small RNA pathways with essentially no conservation of individual sequences aside from a subset of miRNAs. We identified 52 miRNA families that are conserved in each of the four species as well as numerous miRNAs that are species specific or shared between only two or three species. Despite a lack of conservation of individual piRNAs and siRNAs many of the features of each pathway, including genomic distribution, are conserved. We show that in each species, 26G siRNAs trigger stage-specific secondary siRNA formation. We also observe that piRNAs trigger siRNA formation from targets containing up to three mismatches in each species. Finally, we show that nematodes produce two distinct sex-specific classes of piRNAs, suggesting different roles for piRNAs in male and female germlines. Sequencing small RNAs from four Caenorhabditis species: C. elegans, C. briggsae, C. remanei and C. brenneri
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.
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)
Project description:Colonization of genomes by a new selfish genetic element is detrimental to the host species and must lead to an efficient, repressive response. In vertebrates as well as in Drosophila, piRNAs repress transposons in the germ line while endogenous siRNAs take on this role in somatic cells. For endo-siRNAs as well as for piRNAs, it is unclear how an efficient response can be initiated de novo. Our experiments establish that the endo-siRNA pathway will target artificially introduced sequences without the need for a pre-existing template in the genome. This response is also triggered in transiently transfected cells, thus genomic integration is not essential. Deep sequencing revealed that corresponding endo-siRNAs are generated throughout the sequence, but preferentially from transcribed regions. Examination of 3 different cell lines.
Project description:The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans contains each of the broad classes of eukaryotic small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), endogenous small-interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) and piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). To better understand the evolution of these regulatory RNAs, we deep sequenced small RNAs from C. elegans and three closely related nematodes: C. briggsae, C. remanei and C. brenneri. The results reveal a fluid landscape of small RNA pathways with essentially no conservation of individual sequences aside from a subset of miRNAs. We identified 52 miRNA families that are conserved in each of the four species as well as numerous miRNAs that are species specific or shared between only two or three species. Despite a lack of conservation of individual piRNAs and siRNAs many of the features of each pathway, including genomic distribution, are conserved. We show that in each species, 26G siRNAs trigger stage-specific secondary siRNA formation. We also observe that piRNAs trigger siRNA formation from targets containing up to three mismatches in each species. Finally, we show that nematodes produce two distinct sex-specific classes of piRNAs, suggesting different roles for piRNAs in male and female germlines.
Project description:How lifespan and the rate of aging are set is a key problem in biology. Small RNAs are conserved molecules that impact diverse biological processes through the control of gene expression. However, in contrast to miRNAs, the role of endo-siRNAs in aging remains unexplored. Here, by combining deep sequencing and genomic and genetic approaches in C.CaenorhabditisC. elegans elegans, we reveal an unprecedented role for endo-siRNA molecules in the maintenance of proteostasis and lifespan extension in germline-less animals. Furthermore, we identify an endo-siRNA-regulated tyrosine phosphatase, which limits the longevity of germline-less animals by restricting the activity of the heat shock transcription factor HSF-1. Altogether, our findings point to endo-siRNAs as a link between germline removal and the HSF-1 proteostasis and longevity-promoting somatic pathway. This establishes a role for endo siRNAs in the aging process and identifies downstream genes and physiological processes that are regulated by the endo siRNAs to affect longevity.
Project description:Colonization of genomes by a new selfish genetic element is detrimental to the host species and must lead to an efficient, repressive response. In vertebrates as well as in Drosophila, piRNAs repress transposons in the germ line while endogenous siRNAs take on this role in somatic cells. For endo-siRNAs as well as for piRNAs, it is unclear how an efficient response can be initiated de novo. Our experiments establish that the endo-siRNA pathway will target artificially introduced sequences without the need for a pre-existing template in the genome. This response is also triggered in transiently transfected cells, thus genomic integration is not essential. Deep sequencing revealed that corresponding endo-siRNAs are generated throughout the sequence, but preferentially from transcribed regions.
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. 7 small RNA libraries were sequenced as part of 25 flow cell lanes on the Illumina GA II platform. Samples were treated with tobacco acid pyrophosphatase to allow cloning of small RNAs with a 5'-triphosphate. Samples were labelled for multiplexing using 4-bp 5'-barcodes or barcodes included in Illumina TruSeq adapters. In most cases a single flow cell lane included several multiplexed libraries.
Project description:Eukaryotic cells express several classes of small RNAs that regulate gene expression and ensure genome maintenance. Endogenous siRNAs (endo-siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) mainly control gene and transposon expression in the germline, while microRNAs (miRNAs) generally function in post-transcriptional gene silencing in both somatic and germline cells. To provide an evolutionary and developmental perspective on small RNA pathways in nematodes, we identified and characterized known and novel small RNA classes through gametogenesis and embryo development in the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum and compared them with known small RNAs of Caenorhabditis elegans. piRNAs, Piwi-clade Argonautes, and other proteins associated with the piRNA pathway have been lost in Ascaris. miRNAs are synthesized immediately following fertilization in utero, prior to pronuclear fusion, and before the first cleavage of the zygote. This is the earliest expression of small RNAs ever described at a developmental stage long thought to be transcriptionally quiescent. A comparison of the two classes of Ascaris endo-siRNAs, 22G-RNAs and 26G-RNAs, to those in C. elegans, suggests great diversification and plasticity in the use of small RNA pathways during spermatogenesis in different nematodes. Our data reveal conserved characteristics of nematode small RNAs as well as features unique to Ascaris that illustrate significant flexibility in the use of small RNAs pathways, some of which are likely an adaptation to AscarisM-bM-^@M-^Y life cycle and parasitism. We generated transcriptomes from Ascaris germline and embryos for de-novo assembly as well as cDNA expression profiles. Two types of libraries were prepared: 1) sheared, full-length cDNA synthesized using a combination of oligo-dT and random hexamer priming and 2) cDNA prepared from RNA first chemically sheared and then double-stranded cDNA prepared using ramom hexamer priming.