title: Germ Granules Prevent Accumulation of Somatic Transcripts in the AdultCaenorhabditis elegansGermline.
abstract: The germ cells of multicellular organisms protect their developmental potential through specialized mechanisms. A shared feature of germ cells from worms to humans is the presence of nonmembrane-bound, ribonucleoprotein organelles called germ granules. Depletion of germ granules inCaenorhabditis elegans(i.e., P granules) leads to sterility and, in some germlines, expression of the neuronal transgeneunc-119::gfpand the muscle myosin MYO-3 Thus, P granules are hypothesized to maintain germ cell totipotency by preventing somatic development, although the mechanism by which P granules carry out this function is unknown. In this study, we performed transcriptome and single molecule RNA-FISH analyses of dissected P granule-depleted gonads at different developmental stages. Our results demonstrate that P granules are necessary for adult germ cells to downregulate spermatogenesis RNAs and to prevent the accumulation of numerous soma-specific RNAs. P granule-depleted gonads that express theunc-119::gfptransgene also express many other genes involved in neuronal development and concomitantly lose expression of germ cell fate markers. Finally, we show that removal of either of two critical P-granule components, PGL-1 or GLH-1, is sufficient to cause germ cells to express UNC-119::GFP and MYO-3 and to display RNA accumulation defects similar to those observed after depletion of P granules. Our data identify P granules as critical modulators of the germline transcriptome and guardians of germ cell fate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064.
authors.forename: Andrew Kekūpa'a
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Knutson
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064.
authors.forename: Thea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Egelhofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rechtsteiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064 sstrome@ucsc.edu.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Strome
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D007246:Infertility / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C114543:PGL-1 protein, C elegans; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; C098176:UNC-119 protein, C elegans; D012313:RNA; C524497:GLH-1 protein, C elegans; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; GLH-1; P granules; PGL-1; germ-soma antagonism; germline