Aubergine Controls Germline Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Progeny Differentiation via Distinct Mechanisms
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster
PROVIDER: GSE96751 | GEO | 2017/04/01
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA379553
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:In Drosophila, Piwi proteins associate with Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and protect the germline genome by silencing mobile genetic elements. This defense system acts in germline and gonadal somatic tissue to preserve germline development. Genetic control for these silencing pathways varies greatly between tissues of the gonad. Here, we identified Vreteno (Vret), a novel gonad-specific protein essential for germline development. Vret is required for piRNA-based transposon regulation in both germline and somatic gonadal tissues. We show that Vret, which contains Tudor domains, associates physically with Piwi and Aubergine (Aub), stabilizing these proteins via a gonad-specific mechanism, absent in other fly tissues. In the absence of vret, Piwi-bound piRNAs are lost without changes in piRNA precursor transcript production, supporting a role for Vret in primary piRNA biogenesis. In the germline, piRNAs can engage in an Aub/Argonaute 3 (AGO3)-dependent amplification in the absence of Vret, suggesting that Vret function can distinguish between primary piRNAs loaded into Piwi/Aub complexes and piRNAs engaged in the amplification cycle. We propose that Vret acts at an early step in primary piRNA processing where it plays an essential role in transposon regulation. These studies show that vreteno (vret) has a role in germline development and primary piRNA regulation in Drosophila. Transposable element expression profiles from Drosophila ovaries mutant for vreteno, piwi and aubergine were compared using genome-wide mRNA expression profiling by Affymetrix GeneChip arrays (Drosophila 2.0). Key targets were validated by qPCR experiments.
2011-09-28 | E-GEOD-30360 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway plays an essential role in the repression of transposons in the germline. Other functions of piRNAs such as post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs are now emerging. Here, we perform iCLIP with the PIWI protein Aubergine (Aub) and identify hundreds of maternal mRNAs interacting with Aub in the early Drosophila embryo. Gene expression profiling reveals that a proportion of these mRNAs undergoes Aub-dependent destabilization during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Strikingly, Aub-dependent unstable mRNAs encode germ cell determinants. iCLIP with an Aub mutant that is unable to bind piRNAs confirms that binding of Aub to mRNAs is piRNA dependent. Base-pairing between piRNAs and mRNAs can induce mRNA cleavage and decay that are essential for embryonic development. These results reveal a general regulation of maternal mRNAs by Aub and piRNAs, which plays a key developmental role in the embryo, by mediating decay and localization of mRNAs encoding germ cell determinants.
2015-08-19 | GSE70777 | GEO
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) silence transposons in animal germ cells. In Drosophila, the reciprocal “Ping-Pong” cycle of piRNA-directed RNA cleavage, catalyzed by the PIWI proteins Aubergine (Aub) and Argonaute3 (AGO3) through their Slicer activity, is believed to expand the population of antisense piRNAs in response to transposon expression. Whether and how the Slicer activity of AGO3/Aub promotes the process of the secondary piRNA amplification remain unclear. Here we generated transgenic flies that could express AGO3 Slicer mutant forms to ellucidate the Slicer activity of AGO3.
2014-06-30 | GSE49436 | GEO
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) silence transposons in animal germ cells. In Drosophila, the reciprocal “Ping-Pong” cycle of piRNA-directed RNA cleavage, catalyzed by the PIWI proteins Aubergine (Aub) and Argonaute3 (AGO3) through their Slicer activity, is believed to expand the population of antisense piRNAs in response to transposon expression. Whether and how the Slicer activity of AGO3/Aub promotes the process of the secondary piRNA amplification remain unclear. Here we generated transgenic flies that could express AGO3 Slicer mutant forms to ellucidate the Slicer activity of AGO3. small-RNA libraries from 3 samples of D. mel. Ovaries.
2014-06-30 | E-GEOD-49436 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:In Drosophila, Piwi proteins associate with Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and protect the germline genome by silencing mobile genetic elements. This defense system acts in germline and gonadal somatic tissue to preserve germline development. Genetic control for these silencing pathways varies greatly between tissues of the gonad. Here, we identified Vreteno (Vret), a novel gonad-specific protein essential for germline development. Vret is required for piRNA-based transposon regulation in both germline and somatic gonadal tissues. We show that Vret, which contains Tudor domains, associates physically with Piwi and Aubergine (Aub), stabilizing these proteins via a gonad-specific mechanism, absent in other fly tissues. In the absence of vret, Piwi-bound piRNAs are lost without changes in piRNA precursor transcript production, supporting a role for Vret in primary piRNA biogenesis. In the germline, piRNAs can engage in an Aub/Argonaute 3 (AGO3)-dependent amplification in the absence of Vret, suggesting that Vret function can distinguish between primary piRNAs loaded into Piwi/Aub complexes and piRNAs engaged in the amplification cycle. We propose that Vret acts at an early step in primary piRNA processing where it plays an essential role in transposon regulation. These studies show that vreteno (vret) has a role in germline development and primary piRNA regulation in Drosophila.
2011-09-29 | GSE30360 | GEO
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) suppress transposon activity in animal germ cells. In the Drosophila ovary, primary Aubergine (Aub)-bound antisense piRNAs initiate the ping-pong cycle to produce secondary AGO3-bound sense piRNAs. This increases the number of secondary Aub-bound antisense piRNAs that can act to destroy transposon mRNAs. Here we show that Krimper (Krimp), a Tudor-domain protein, directly interacts with piRNA-free AGO3 to promote symmetrical dimethylarginine (sDMA) modification, ensuring sense piRNA-loading onto sDMA-modified AGO3. In aub mutant ovaries, AGO3 associates with ping-pong signature piRNAs, suggesting AGO3’s compatibility with primary piRNA loading. Krimp sequesters ectopically expressed AGO3 within Krimp bodies in cultured ovarian somatic cells (OSCs), in which only the primary piRNA pathway operates. Upon krimp-RNAi in OSCs, AGO3 loads with piRNAs, further showing the capacity of AGO3 for primary piRNA loading. We propose that Krimp enforces an antisense bias on piRNA pools by binding AGO3 and blocking its access to primary piRNAs. In order to investigate function of Krimp in piRNA pathway, sequencing of Piwi subfamily protein associated small RNAs was performed using adult Drosophila ovaries and Ovarian Somatic Cells (OSCs) depleted for Krimp or Aub.
2015-05-28 | E-GEOD-69293 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:PIWI proteins and their associated small noncoding piRNAs, which guide PIWI to target RNAs by base-pairing, are among the maternal components deposited into the germline of the early embryo in Drosophila. Piwi has been extensively studied in the adult ovary and testis, where it is required for transposon suppression, germline stem cell self-renewal, and fertility. Consequently, loss of Piwi in the adult ovary using piwi-null alleles or knockdown from early oogenesis results in complete sterility, limiting investigation into possible embryonic functions of maternal Piwi. In this study, we show that the maternal Piwi protein persists in the embryonic germline through gonad coalescence, suggesting that maternal Piwi can regulate germline development beyond early embryogenesis. Using a maternal knockdown strategy, we find that maternal Piwi is required for the fertility and normal gonad morphology of female, but not male, progeny. Following maternal Piwi knockdown, transposons were mildly derepressed in the early embryo but were fully repressed in the adult ovaries of progeny. Furthermore, the maternal piRNA pool is diminished, reducing the capacity of the PIWI/piRNA complex to target some zygotic genes during embryogenesis. Examination of embryonic germ cell proliferation and gene expression in the adult ovary showed that the germline of female progeny is partially masculinized upon maternal Piwi knockdown . This reveals a novel role for maternal Piwi in the germline development of female progeny and suggests that the PIWI/piRNA pathway is involved in germline sex determination in Drosophila.
2021-06-28 | GSE171951 | GEO
Project description:Silencing of transposons in the Drosophila ovary relies on three Piwi-family proteins, Piwi, Aubergine (Aub), and Ago3, acting in concert with their small RNA guides, the piRNAs. Aub and Ago3 are found in the germ cell cytoplasm, where they function in the ping-pong cycle to consume transposon mRNAs. The nuclear Piwi protein is required for transposon silencing in both germ and somatic follicle cells, yet the precise mechanisms by which Piwi acts remain largely unclear. We investigated the role of Piwi by combining cell-type specific knockdowns with measurements of steady state transposon mRNA levels, nascent RNA synthesis, and small RNA abundance. In somatic cells, Piwi loss lead to concerted effects on nascent transcripts and transposon mRNAs, indicating that Piwi acts through transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). In germ cells, Piwi loss showed disproportionate impacts on steady state RNA levels, indicating that it also exerts an effect on post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS). Piwi knockdown affected levels of germ cell piRNAs presumably bound to Aub and Ago3, perhaps explaining its post-transcriptional impacts. Overall, our results indicate that Piwi plays multiple roles in the piRNA pathway, in part enforcing transposon repression through effects on transcription but also participating in germ cell piRNA biogenesis.
2013-02-09 | GSE43360 | GEO
Project description:Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) suppress transposon activity in animal germ cells. In the Drosophila ovary, primary Aubergine (Aub)-bound antisense piRNAs initiate the ping-pong cycle to produce secondary AGO3-bound sense piRNAs. This increases the number of secondary Aub-bound antisense piRNAs that can act to destroy transposon mRNAs. Here we show that Krimper (Krimp), a Tudor-domain protein, directly interacts with piRNA-free AGO3 to promote symmetrical dimethylarginine (sDMA) modification, ensuring sense piRNA-loading onto sDMA-modified AGO3. In aub mutant ovaries, AGO3 associates with ping-pong signature piRNAs, suggesting AGO3’s compatibility with primary piRNA loading. Krimp sequesters ectopically expressed AGO3 within Krimp bodies in cultured ovarian somatic cells (OSCs), in which only the primary piRNA pathway operates. Upon krimp-RNAi in OSCs, AGO3 loads with piRNAs, further showing the capacity of AGO3 for primary piRNA loading. We propose that Krimp enforces an antisense bias on piRNA pools by binding AGO3 and blocking its access to primary piRNAs.
2015-05-28 | GSE69293 | GEO
Project description:PIWI-clade Argonaute proteins silence transposon expression in animal gonads. Their target specificity is defined by bound ~23-30nt piRNAs that are processed from single-stranded precursor transcripts via two distinct pathways. Primary piRNAs are defined by the endo-nuclease Zucchini, while biogenesis of secondary piRNAs depends on piRNA-guided transcript cleavage and results in piRNA amplification. Here, we analyze the inter-dependencies between these piRNA biogenesis pathways in the developing Drosophila ovary. We show that secondary piRNA-guided target slicing is the predominant mechanism that specifies transcripts—including those from piRNA clusters—as primary piRNA precursors and that defines the spectrum of Piwi-bound piRNAs in germline cells. Post-transcriptional silencing in the cytoplasm therefore enforces nuclear, transcriptional target silencing, which ensures the tight suppression of transposons during oogenesis. As target slicing also defines the nuclear piRNA pool during mouse spermatogenesis, our findings uncover an unexpected conceptual similarity between the mouse and fly piRNA pathways. To understand the hierarchical order of primary versus secondary piRNA biogenesis in Drosophila ovaries, we sequenced piRNAs bound to total-Piwi, germline-Piwi, Aubergine and Argonaute3 from ovaries of germline specific knockdowns of control, piwi, aub, ago3 single knockdowns and aub/ago3 double knockdowns. To determine changes in Transposable Element (TE) transcription or TE RNA steady state in perturbed piRNA pathway conditions, we performed Pol2-ChIP-sequencing and polyA bound RNA-sequencing from ovaries of multiple germline knockdown genotypes. We also sequenced genomic DNA from ovaries of control knockdowns to experimentally estimate the TE copy number in our genetic background. Finally, we used CAP-seq from germline specific Piwi depletions to identify the Transcriptional Start Sites (TSS) in TEs in a deregulated background. Replicates are labeled with R1, R2, R3, R4 where indicated.
2015-08-31 | E-GEOD-71775 | biostudies-arrayexpress