Germ Granules Govern Small RNA Inheritance
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA526484 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Dataset's files
| Action | DRS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRR9662980.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR9662990.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR9663000.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR9662981.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR9662991.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz |
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Project description:In C. elegans nematodes, components of liquid-like germ granules were shown to be required for transgenerational small RNA inheritance. Surprisingly, we show here that mutants with defective germ granules can nevertheless inherit potent small RNA-based silencing responses, but some of the mutants lose this ability after many generations of homozygosity. Animals mutated in pptr-1, which is required for stabilization of P granules in the early embryo, display extraordinarily strong heritable RNAi responses, lasting for tens of generations. Intriguingly, the RNAi capacity of descendants derived from mutants defective in the core germ granules proteins MEG-3 and MEG-4 is determined by the genotype of the ancestors, and changes transgenerationally. Further, whether the meg-3/4 mutant alleles were present in the paternal or maternal lineages lead to different transgenerational consequences. Small RNA inheritance, rather than maternal contribution of the germ granules themselves, mediates the transgenerational defects in RNAi of meg-3/4 mutants and their progeny. Accordingly, germ granule defects lead to heritable genome-wide mis-expression of endogenous small RNAs. Upon disruption of germ granules, hrde-1 mutants can inherit RNAi although HRDE-1 was previously thought to be absolutely required for RNAi inheritance. We propose that germ granules sort and shape the RNA pool, and that small RNA inheritance maintains this activity for multiple generations.
2019-07-31 | GSE128112 | GEO
Project description:In C. elegans nematodes, components of liquid-like germ granules were shown to be required for transgenerational small RNA inheritance. Surprisingly, we show here that mutants with defective germ granules can nevertheless inherit potent small RNA-based silencing responses, but some of the mutants lose this ability after many generations of homozygosity. Animals mutated in pptr-1, which is required for stabilization of P granules in the early embryo, display extraordinarily strong heritable RNAi responses, lasting for tens of generations. Intriguingly, the RNAi capacity of descendants derived from mutants defective in the core germ granule proteins MEG-3 and MEG-4 is determined by the genotype of the ancestors and changes transgenerationally. Further, whether the meg-3/4 mutant alleles were present in the paternal or maternal lineages leads to different transgenerational consequences. Small RNA inheritance, rather than maternal contribution of the germ granules themselves, mediates the transgenerational defects in RNAi of meg-3/4 mutants and their progeny. Accordingly, germ granule defects lead to heritable genome-wide mis-expression of endogenous small RNAs. Upon disruption of germ granules, hrde-1 mutants can inherit RNAi, although HRDE-1 was previously thought to be absolutely required for RNAi inheritance. We propose that germ granules sort and shape the RNA pool, and that small RNA inheritance maintains this activity for multiple generations.
| S-EPMC6739422 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Germ granules are biomolecular condensates that promote germ cell totipotency in most, if not all, animals. In C. elegans, MEG-3 and MEG-4 are two intrinsically disordered proteins that are redundantly required for the phase separations that drive germ granule assembly in germline blastomeres. Here, we show that animals lacking MEG-3/4 exhibit defects in dsRNA-mediated gene silencing (RNAi) that are due, at least in part, to defects in systemic RNAi. Interestingly, these RNAi defects are transgenerationally disconnected from meg-3/4 genotype: RNAi defects do not arise until 5-9 generations after animals become mutant for meg-3/4, and RNAi defects persist for 9-11 generations after meg-3/4 genotype is restored to wild type. Similar non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance are associated with other mutations that disrupt germ granule formation, indicating that germ granule disruption is the likely cause of genotype/phenotype disconnects. Loss of germ granules is associated with the production of aberrant populations of endogenous siRNAs, which, remarkably, are propagated for ≅10 generations in wild-type descendants of animals that lacked germ granules. sid-1, which encodes a factor required for systemic RNAi in C. elegans, is inappropriately and heritably silenced by aberrantly expressed sid-1 endogenous siRNAs, suggesting that transgenerational silencing of sid-1 likely underlies the heritable defect in RNAi. We conclude that one function of germ granules is to organize RNA-based epigenetic inheritance pathways and that failure to assemble germ granules has consequences that persist across many generations.
2019-08-08 | GSE134683 | GEO
Project description:Germ granules coordinate RNA-based epigenetic inheritance pathways
| PRJNA556040 | ENA
Project description:Biomolecular condensates, such as stress and germ granules, often contain sub-compartments. For instance, the Caenorhabditis elegans germ granule, which localizes near the outer nuclear membrane of germ cell nuclei, is composed of at least four ordered compartments, each housing distinct sets of proteins and RNAs. How these compartments form and why they are spatially ordered remains poorly understood. Here, we show that the conserved RNA helicase DDX-19 defines another compartment of the larger C. elegans germ granule, which we term the D compartment. The D compartment exhibits properties of a liquid condensate and forms between the outer nuclear pore filament and other compartments of the germ granule. Two nuclear pore proteins, NPP-14 and GLEL-1, are required for its formation, suggesting that the D compartment localizes adjacent to the outer nuclear membrane via interactions with the nuclear pore. The loss of DDX-19, NPP-14, or GLEL-1 leads to functional defects, including aberrant formation of the other four germ granule compartments, a loss of germline immortality, and dysregulation of small RNA-based transgenerational epigenetic inheritance programs. Hence, we propose that a function of the D compartment is to anchor larger germ granules to nuclear pores, enabling germ granule compartmentalization and promoting transgenerational RNA surveillance.
2025-02-09 | PXD056752 | Pride
Project description:Germ granules are membrane-less organelles essential for small RNA biogenesis and germline development. Among the conserved properties of germ granules is their association with the nuclear membrane. Recent studies demonstrated that LOTUS domain proteins, EGGD-1 and EGGD-2 (also known as MIP-1 and MIP-2 respectively), promote the formation of perinuclear germ granules in C. elegans. This finding presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the significance of perinuclear localization of germ granules. Here we show that loss of eggd-1 causes the coalescence of germ granules and formation of abnormal cytoplasmic aggregates. Impairment of perinuclear granules affects certain germline classes of small RNAs including Piwi-interacting RNAs. Transcriptome profiling reveals overexpression of spermatogenic and cuticle-related genes in eggd-1 hermaphrodites. We further demonstrate that disruption of germ granules activates HLH-30-mediated transcriptional program in somatic tissues. Collectively, our findings underscore the essential role of EGGD-1 in germ granule organization and reveal an unexpected germ granule-to-soma communication.
2023-07-20 | GSE228858 | GEO
Project description:Germ granules are membrane-less organelles essential for small RNA biogenesis and germline development. Among the conserved properties of germ granules is their association with the nuclear membrane. Recent studies demonstrated that LOTUS domain proteins, EGGD-1 and EGGD-2 (also known as MIP-1 and MIP-2 respectively), promote the formation of perinuclear germ granules in C. elegans. This finding presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the significance of perinuclear localization of germ granules. Here we show that loss of eggd-1 causes the coalescence of germ granules and formation of abnormal cytoplasmic aggregates. Impairment of perinuclear granules affects certain germline classes of small RNAs including Piwi-interacting RNAs. Transcriptome profiling reveals overexpression of spermatogenic and cuticle-related genes in eggd-1 hermaphrodites. We further demonstrate that disruption of germ granules activates HLH-30-mediated transcriptional program in somatic tissues. Collectively, our findings underscore the essential role of EGGD-1 in germ granule organization and reveal an unexpected germ granule-to-soma communication.
2023-07-20 | GSE228857 | GEO
Project description:Germ granules are RNA-rich biomolecular condensates regulating posttranscriptional gene expression. In C. elegans, germ granules are associated with the NPC. Mechanism by which germ granules associate with the nucleus and relevant functions remain unknown. We uncovered the function of the NPP-14/24 complex in spatially organizing perinuclear germ granules and fine-tuning the piRNA-based transcriptome surveillance and the inheritance of gene silencing.
2025-04-14 | PXD051572 | Pride
Project description:Formation of biomolecular condensates have emerged as a critical mechanism for compartmentation in living cells. Despite interactions between distinct condensates have been reported, the biological relevance of such interactions remains elusive. In germ cells, small RNA silencing factors are enriched in germ granules, which distinct factors are organized into sub-compartments with specific functions linked to genome surveillance or transgenerational gene silencing. Here we showed that perinuclear germ granules are coated by P body, another condensate known for housing untranslated mRNAs and mRNA degradation factors. Disruption of P body factors, including CGH-1/DDX6 and CAR-1/LSM14, lead to dispersal of small RNA factors from perinuclear germ granules and disorganization of sub-compartments within germ granules. We further showed that CAR-1 promote the interactions between CGH-1 with germ granule factors and such interactions are critical for CGH-1’s ability to promote piRNA-mediated gene silencing. Importantly, we observed that cgh-1 mutants are competent in triggering gene silencing but exhibit defects in maintaining gene silencing effects in the subsequent generations. Small RNA sequencing further showed that cgh-1 mutants exhibit defects in amplifying secondary small RNAs, a known carrier of gene silencing memory. Together, our results uncover the function of P body factors in small RNA-mediated transgenerational gene silencing and highlight how the formation and function of one condensate can be regulated by an adjacent, interacting condensate in cells.
2023-06-16 | PXD037342 | Pride
Project description:In metazoans, germ cells play a fundamental role in ensuring the continuity of animal life. Germ cells contain germ granules, cytoplasmic non-membrane bound organelles also referred to as RNA-protein condensates. These germ granules house a variety of RNAs and proteins essential for germline identity, maintenance, and fertility. In C. elegans, P granules are a specific type of germ granule that localize to the nuclear periphery of developing germ cells and regulate mRNA expression. Proper P granule assembly is dependent on the PGL family of granule-forming proteins. PGL-1, the flagship P granule assembly protein and PGL member, contains two dimerization domains and a C-terminus region. Numerous proteins localize to P granules, most of which are RNA-binding or regulatory proteins. For example, IFE-1 is a eIF4E family member that binds the 5’ cap of mRNAs, directly interacts with PGL-1 in vivo and in vitro, and localizes to P granules. The precise molecular function of PGL and their associated proteins remains unclear; they may act solely as granule assembly proteins, serve as scaffolds to recruit other proteins, or directly regulate RNA. Here, genetics and imaging methods were used to molecularly dissect PGL-1 in vivo to probe how different protein regions are required for granule assembly, P granule binding partner recruitment, and germ cell development. We used CRISPR to (a) tag IFE-1 protein with an mScarlet fluorescent protein, (b) delete protein coding regions of pgl-1 to investigate IFE-1 binding and to understand how IFE-1 assembly into P granules is crucial for its role in germ cell development. Deletion of PGL-1 dimerization domains significantly disrupted P granule formation and IFE-1 recruitment. Removal of the C-terminus region led to abnormal P granule formation, which profoundly affected IFE-1 localization. These findings reveal that the previously uncharacterized C-terminal region plays a critical role in the integrity and functionality of P granules. We are performing immunoprecipitation assays to verify the direct binding of IFE-1 and PGL-1. Our study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms governing P granule protein interactions, highlighting their essential biological relevance and potential impact on understanding germ cell development.
2025-06-16 | GSE299469 | GEO