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Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways

Endogenous small RNAs (sRNAs) and Argonaute proteins are ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in germline and somatic tissues. sRNA-Argonaute complexes are often expressed in gametes and are consequently inherited by the next generation upon fertilization. In Caenorhabditis elegans, 26G-RNAs are...

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Autores principales: Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos, de Jesus Domingues, António Miguel, Ketting, René F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6391025/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30759082
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007784
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author Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos
de Jesus Domingues, António Miguel
Ketting, René F.
author_facet Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos
de Jesus Domingues, António Miguel
Ketting, René F.
author_sort Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos
collection PubMed
description Endogenous small RNAs (sRNAs) and Argonaute proteins are ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in germline and somatic tissues. sRNA-Argonaute complexes are often expressed in gametes and are consequently inherited by the next generation upon fertilization. In Caenorhabditis elegans, 26G-RNAs are primary endogenous sRNAs that trigger the expression of downstream secondary sRNAs. Two subpopulations of 26G-RNAs exist, each of which displaying strongly compartmentalized expression: one is expressed in the spermatogenic gonad and associates with the Argonautes ALG-3/4; plus another expressed in oocytes and in embryos, which associates with the Argonaute ERGO-1. The determinants and dynamics of gene silencing elicited by 26G-RNAs are largely unknown. Here, we provide diverse new insights into these endogenous sRNA pathways of C. elegans. Using genetics and deep sequencing, we dissect a maternal effect of the ERGO-1 branch of the 26G-RNA pathway. We find that maternal primary sRNAs can trigger the production of zygotic secondary sRNAs that are able to silence targets, even in the absence of zygotic primary triggers. Thus, the interaction of maternal and zygotic sRNA populations, assures target gene silencing throughout animal development. Furthermore, we explore other facets of 26G-RNA biology related to the ALG-3/4 branch. We find that sRNA abundance, sRNA pattern of origin and the 3’ UTR length of target transcripts are predictors of the regulatory outcome by the Argonautes ALG-3/4. Lastly, we provide evidence suggesting that ALG-3 and ALG-4 regulate their own mRNAs in a negative feedback loop. Altogether, we provide several new regulatory insights on the dynamics, target regulation and self-regulation of the endogenous RNAi pathways of C. elegans.
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spelling pubmed-63910252019-03-08 Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos de Jesus Domingues, António Miguel Ketting, René F. PLoS Genet Research Article Endogenous small RNAs (sRNAs) and Argonaute proteins are ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in germline and somatic tissues. sRNA-Argonaute complexes are often expressed in gametes and are consequently inherited by the next generation upon fertilization. In Caenorhabditis elegans, 26G-RNAs are primary endogenous sRNAs that trigger the expression of downstream secondary sRNAs. Two subpopulations of 26G-RNAs exist, each of which displaying strongly compartmentalized expression: one is expressed in the spermatogenic gonad and associates with the Argonautes ALG-3/4; plus another expressed in oocytes and in embryos, which associates with the Argonaute ERGO-1. The determinants and dynamics of gene silencing elicited by 26G-RNAs are largely unknown. Here, we provide diverse new insights into these endogenous sRNA pathways of C. elegans. Using genetics and deep sequencing, we dissect a maternal effect of the ERGO-1 branch of the 26G-RNA pathway. We find that maternal primary sRNAs can trigger the production of zygotic secondary sRNAs that are able to silence targets, even in the absence of zygotic primary triggers. Thus, the interaction of maternal and zygotic sRNA populations, assures target gene silencing throughout animal development. Furthermore, we explore other facets of 26G-RNA biology related to the ALG-3/4 branch. We find that sRNA abundance, sRNA pattern of origin and the 3’ UTR length of target transcripts are predictors of the regulatory outcome by the Argonautes ALG-3/4. Lastly, we provide evidence suggesting that ALG-3 and ALG-4 regulate their own mRNAs in a negative feedback loop. Altogether, we provide several new regulatory insights on the dynamics, target regulation and self-regulation of the endogenous RNAi pathways of C. elegans. Public Library of Science 2019-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC6391025/ /pubmed/30759082 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007784 Text en © 2019 Almeida et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Almeida, Miguel Vasconcelos
de Jesus Domingues, António Miguel
Ketting, René F.
Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title_full Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title_fullStr Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title_full_unstemmed Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title_short Maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous RNAi pathways
title_sort maternal and zygotic gene regulatory effects of endogenous rnai pathways
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6391025/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30759082
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007784
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