Similar Datasets
Project description:Germ plasm, the Balbiani body and nuage are evolutionary conserved structures essential for germ cell specification and maintenance. We describe Tdrd6a as a component of these structures with two distinct molecular functions. First, Tdrd6a facilitates the accumulation of the typical antisense-bias of piRNAs, without having effects on piRNA biogenesis signatures. Second, we show that Tdrd6a is required for Balbiani body and germ plasm integrity, and associates with RNA-binding proteins and germ plasm mRNAs. On the cell-biological level, maternally contributed Tdrd6a strongly impacts germ cell formation, but is dispensable for fertility. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing we demonstrate that Tdrd6a promotes early germ cell development and regulates the stoichiometry of germ plasm mRNAs. We propose that Tdrd6a functions as a scaffold to recruit correct ratios of germ plasm transcripts and to accumulate antisense piRNA complexes in order to ensure both specification and maintenance of germ cells.
2018-07-24 | GSE107682 | GEO
Project description:Germ plasm, the Balbiani body and nuage are evolutionary conserved structures essential for germ cell specification and maintenance. We describe Tdrd6a as a component of these structures with two distinct molecular functions. First, Tdrd6a facilitates the accumulation of the typical antisense-bias of piRNAs, without having effects on piRNA biogenesis signatures. Second, we show that Tdrd6a is required for Balbiani body and germ plasm integrity, and associates with RNA-binding proteins and germ plasm mRNAs. On the cell-biological level, maternally contributed Tdrd6a strongly impacts germ cell formation, but is dispensable for fertility. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing we demonstrate that Tdrd6a promotes early germ cell development and regulates the stoichiometry of germ plasm mRNAs. We propose that Tdrd6a functions as a scaffold to recruit correct ratios of germ plasm transcripts and to accumulate antisense piRNA complexes in order to ensure both specification and maintenance of germ cells.
2018-07-24 | GSE79283 | GEO
Project description:Germ plasm, the Balbiani body and nuage are evolutionary conserved structures essential for germ cell specification and maintenance. We describe Tdrd6a as a component of these structures with two distinct molecular functions. First, Tdrd6a facilitates the accumulation of the typical antisense-bias of piRNAs, without having effects on piRNA biogenesis signatures. Second, we show that Tdrd6a is required for Balbiani body and germ plasm integrity, and associates with RNA-binding proteins and germ plasm mRNAs. On the cell-biological level, maternally contributed Tdrd6a strongly impacts germ cell formation, but is dispensable for fertility. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing we demonstrate that Tdrd6a promotes early germ cell development and regulates the stoichiometry of germ plasm mRNAs. We propose that Tdrd6a functions as a scaffold to recruit correct ratios of germ plasm transcripts and to accumulate antisense piRNA complexes in order to ensure both specification and maintenance of germ cells.
2018-07-24 | GSE79161 | GEO
Project description:Tdrd6a recruits Ziwi-bound piRNAs and coordinates deposition of germ plasm mRNAs into primordial germ cells
| PRJNA315403 | ENA
Project description:Tdrd6a recruits Ziwi-bound piRNAs and coordinates deposition of germ plasm mRNAs into primordial germ cells [small RNA]
| PRJNA421016 | ENA
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and PIWI proteins play a crucial role in germ cells by repressing transposable elements and regulating gene expression. In Drosophila, maternal piRNAs are loaded into the embryo mostly bound to the PIWI protein Aubergine (Aub). Aub targets maternal mRNAs through incomplete base-pairing with piRNAs and can induce their destabilization in the somatic part of the embryo. Paradoxically, these Aub-dependent unstable mRNAs encode germ cell determinants that are selectively stabilized in the germ plasm. Here we show that piRNAs and Aub actively protect germ cell mRNAs in the germ plasm. Aub directly interacts with the germline-specific poly(A) polymerase Wispy, thus leading to mRNA polyadenylation and stabilization in the germ plasm. These results reveal a role for piRNAs in mRNA stabilization and identify Aub as an interactor of Wispy for mRNA polyadenylation. They further highlight the role of Aub and piRNAs in embryonic patterning through two opposite functions.
| S-EPMC5670238 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The localization and organization of mitochondria- and ribonucleoprotein granule-rich germ plasm is essential for many aspects of germ cell development. In Xenopus, germ plasm is maternally inherited and is required for the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs). Germ plasm is aggregated into larger patches during egg activation and cleavage and is ultimately translocated perinuclearly during gastrulation. Although microtubule dynamics and a kinesin (Kif4a) have been implicated in Xenopus germ plasm localization, little is known about how germ plasm distribution is regulated. Here, we identify a role for maternal Xenopus Syntabulin in the aggregation of germ plasm following fertilization. We show that depletion of sybu mRNA using antisense oligonucleotides injected into oocytes results in defects in the aggregation and perinuclear transport of germ plasm and subsequently in reduced PGC numbers. Using live imaging analysis, we also characterize a novel role for Sybu in the collection of germ plasm in vegetal cleavage furrows by surface contraction waves. Additionally, we show that a localized kinesin-like protein, Kif3b, is also required for germ plasm aggregation and that Sybu functionally interacts with Kif3b and Kif4a in germ plasm aggregation. Overall, these data suggest multiple coordinate roles for kinesins and adaptor proteins in controlling the localization and distribution of a cytoplasmic determinant in early development.
| S-EPMC5714693 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Messenger RNA localization is a conserved mechanism for spatial control of protein synthesis, with key roles in generating cellular and developmental asymmetry. Whereas different transcripts may be targeted to the same subcellular domain, the extent to which their localization is coordinated is unclear. Using quantitative single-molecule imaging, we analysed the assembly of Drosophila germ plasm mRNA granules inherited by nascent germ cells. We find that the germ-cell-destined transcripts nanos, cyclin B and polar granule component travel within the oocyte as ribonucleoprotein particles containing single mRNA molecules but co-assemble into multi-copy heterogeneous granules selectively at the posterior of the oocyte. The stoichiometry and dynamics of assembly indicate a defined stepwise sequence. Our data suggest that co-packaging of these transcripts ensures their effective segregation to germ cells. In contrast, compartmentalization of the germline determinant oskar mRNA into different granules limits its entry into germ cells. This exclusion is required for proper germline development.
| S-EPMC4417036 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and PIWI proteins are essential in germ cells to repress transposons and regulate mRNAs. In Drosophila, piRNAs bound to the PIWI protein Aubergine (Aub) are transferred maternally to the embryo and regulate maternal mRNA stability through two opposite roles. They target mRNAs by incomplete base pairing, leading to their destabilization in the soma and stabilization in the germ plasm. Here, we report a function of Aub in translation. Aub is required for translational activation of nanos mRNA, a key determinant of the germ plasm. Aub physically interacts with the poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) and the translation initiation factor eIF3. Polysome gradient profiling reveals the role of Aub at the initiation step of translation. In the germ plasm, PABP and eIF3d assemble in foci that surround Aub-containing germ granules, and Aub acts with eIF3d to promote nanos translation. These results identify translational activation as a new mode of mRNA regulation by Aub, highlighting the versatility of PIWI proteins in mRNA regulation.
| S-EPMC7196074 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A crucial event in animal development is the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs), which become the stem cells that create sperm and eggs. How PGCs are created provides a valuable paradigm for understanding stem cells in general. We find that the PGCs of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus exhibit broad transcriptional repression, yet enrichment for a set of inherited mRNAs. Enrichment of several germline determinants in the PGCs requires the RNA-binding protein Nanos to target the transcript that encodes CNOT6, a deadenylase, for degradation in the PGCs, thereby creating a stable environment for RNA. Misexpression of CNOT6 in the PGCs results in their failure to retain Seawi transcripts and Vasa protein. Conversely, broad knockdown of CNOT6 expands the domain of Seawi RNA as well as exogenous reporters. Thus, Nanos-dependent spatially restricted CNOT6 differential expression is used to selectively localize germline RNAs to the PGCs. Our findings support a 'time capsule' model of germline determination, whereby the PGCs are insulated from differentiation by retaining the molecular characteristics of the totipotent egg and early embryo.
| S-EPMC4197533 | biostudies-literature