RRC ID 76258
Author Ouyang JPT, Zhang WL, Seydoux G.
Title The conserved helicase ZNFX-1 memorializes silenced RNAs in perinuclear condensates.
Journal Nat Cell Biol
Abstract RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) is a conserved mechanism that uses small RNAs (sRNAs) to silence gene expression. In the Caenorhabditis elegans germline, transcripts targeted by sRNAs are used as templates for sRNA amplification to propagate silencing into the next generation. Here we show that RNAi leads to heritable changes in the distribution of nascent and mature transcripts that correlate with two parallel sRNA amplification loops. The first loop, dependent on the nuclear Argonaute HRDE-1, targets nascent transcripts and reduces but does not eliminate productive transcription at the locus. The second loop, dependent on the conserved helicase ZNFX-1, targets mature transcripts and concentrates them in perinuclear condensates. ZNFX-1 interacts with sRNA-targeted transcripts that have acquired poly(UG) tails and is required to sustain pUGylation and robust sRNA amplification in the inheriting generation. By maintaining a pool of transcripts for amplification, ZNFX-1 prevents premature extinction of the RNAi response and extends silencing into the next generation.
Volume 24(7)
Pages 1129-1140
Published 2022-7-1
DOI 10.1038/s41556-022-00940-w
PII 10.1038/s41556-022-00940-w
PMID 35739318
PMC PMC9276528
MeSH Animals Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins* / genetics Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins* / metabolism DNA Helicases / genetics Germ Cells / metabolism RNA Interference RNA, Small Interfering / genetics RNA, Small Interfering / metabolism
Resource
C.elegans tm1200