The CSR-1 endogenous RNAi pathway ensures accurate transcriptional reprogramming during the oocyte-to-embryo transition in Caenorhabditis elegans

Christina Fassnacht; Cristina Tocchini; Pooja Kumari; Dimos Gaidatzis; Michael B Stadler; Rafal Ciosk

doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007252

The CSR-1 endogenous RNAi pathway ensures accurate transcriptional reprogramming during the oocyte-to-embryo transition in Caenorhabditis elegans

PLoS Genet. 2018 Mar 26;14(3):e1007252. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007252. eCollection 2018 Mar.

Authors

Christina Fassnacht^{1

2}, Cristina Tocchini¹, Pooja Kumari¹, Dimos Gaidatzis^{1

3}, Michael B Stadler^{1

3}, Rafal Ciosk^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
² University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
³ Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Basel, Switzerland.
⁴ Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland.

Abstract

Endogenous RNAi (endoRNAi) is a conserved mechanism for fine-tuning gene expression. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, several endoRNAi pathways are required for the successful development of reproductive cells. The CSR-1 endoRNAi pathway promotes germ cell development, primarily by facilitating the expression of germline genes. In this study, we report a novel function for the CSR-1 pathway in preventing premature activation of embryonic transcription in the developing oocytes, which is accompanied by a general Pol II activation. This CSR-1 function requires its RNase activity, suggesting that, by controlling the levels of maternal mRNAs, CSR-1-dependent endoRNAi contributes to an orderly reprogramming of transcription during the oocyte-to-embryo transition.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Genetically Modified
Caenorhabditis elegans / embryology*
Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics*
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / metabolism
Embryo, Nonmammalian
Female
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Mutation
Oocytes / physiology*
RNA Interference*
RNA Polymerase II / genetics
RNA Polymerase II / metabolism
Transcription Factors / genetics

Substances

CSR-1 protein, C elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
GLD-1 protein, C elegans
LIN-41 protein, C elegans
Transcription Factors
RNA Polymerase II

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (http://www.snf.ch/en/Pages/default.aspx) through the grant 31003A_149402, by the National Science Centre Poland (https://www.ncn.gov.pl/) through the grant 2015/19/B/NZ3/02412 and by an EMBO Installation Grant (http://www.embo.org/funding-awards/installation-grants) to RC. PK has received funding for the research leading to these results from the EMBO Fellowship (http://www.embo.org/, ALTF 95-2015). The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research is sponsored by the Novartis Research Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.