title: Maternal loss of miRNAs leads to increased variance in primordial germ cell numbers in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression that may act as buffering agents to stabilize gene-regulatory networks. Here, we identify two miRNAs that are maternally required for normal embryonic primordial germ cell development in Drosophila melanogaster. Embryos derived from miR-969 and miR-9c mutant mothers had, on average, reduced germ cell numbers. Intriguingly, this reduction correlated with an increase in the variance of this quantitative phenotypic trait. Analysis of an independent set of maternal mutant genotypes suggests that reduction of germ cell number need not lead to increased variance. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that miR-969 and miR-9c contribute to stabilizing the processes that control germ number, supporting phenotypic robustness.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore 138673, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: Jan-Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kugler
authors.forename: Ya-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ruifen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: microRNA; phenotypic trait variance; primordial germ cell development
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