title: PAN-1, a P-granule component important for C. elegans fertility, has dual roles in the germline and soma.
abstract: In Caenorhabditis elegans, P granules are germline-specific, RNA-containing granules that segregate into the germline precursor cell during early embryogenesis. In this short report, PAN-1, which previously has been found by others in screens for genes causing larval molting defects, is identified here as a novel P-granule component and a binding partner of GLH-1 (Germline RNA Helicase-1), a constitutive, germline-specific, P-granule protein. The PAN-1 predicted protein contains multiple leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) and regions with similarities to F-box proteins. Antibodies raised against PAN-1 reveal it is present both in the soma and the germline. In the germline, PAN-1 uniquely localizes to P granules from the first larval stage onward and is unusual for a P-granule component in lacking recognizable RNA binding motifs. Homozygous pan-1(gk142) deletion worms arrest as larvae that are unable to molt and this phenotype is also seen with pan-1(RNAi) into wild type worms. pan-1(RNAi) into the somatic RNAi-defective strain rrf-1(pk1417) bypasses the larval arrest and allows an assessment of PAN-1 function in the germline. We find pan-1(RNAi) is variably effective in knocking down PAN-1 protein and results in adult progeny that display multiple germline defects. These phenocopies range from under-proliferation of the germline, as also seen with loss of GLH-1, to the induction of endomitotic replication in oocytes, both defects that result in sterility, to fertile animals with significantly reduced progeny numbers. Thus, while loss of PAN-1 in the soma inhibits molting, this report demonstrates that PAN-1 is also a P-granule component that is essential for fertility.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Department, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Faten
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Deeb
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mercurio
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parfenova
authors.forename: Pliny A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C571804:PAN-1 protein, C elegans; C524497:GLH-1 protein, C elegans; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases