P bodies coat germ granules to promote transgenerational gene silencing in C. elegans

ABSTRACT: Formation of biomolecular condensates have emerged as a critical mechanism for compartmentation in living cells. Despite interactions between distinct condensates have been reported, the biological relevance of such interactions remains elusive. In germ cells, small RNA silencing factors are enriched in germ granules, which distinct factors are organized into sub-compartments with specific functions linked to genome surveillance or transgenerational gene silencing. Here we showed that perinuclear germ granules are coated by P body, another condensate known for housing untranslated mRNAs and mRNA degradation factors. Disruption of P body factors, including CGH-1/DDX6 and CAR-1/LSM14, lead to dispersal of small RNA factors from perinuclear germ granules and disorganization of sub-compartments within germ granules. We further showed that CAR-1 promote the interactions between CGH-1 with germ granule factors and such interactions are critical for CGH-1’s ability to promote piRNA-mediated gene silencing. Importantly, we observed that cgh-1 mutants are competent in triggering gene silencing but exhibit defects in maintaining gene silencing effects in the subsequent generations. Small RNA sequencing further showed that cgh-1 mutants exhibit defects in amplifying secondary small RNAs, a known carrier of gene silencing memory. Together, our results uncover the function of P body factors in small RNA-mediated transgenerational gene silencing and highlight how the formation and function of one condensate can be regulated by an adjacent, interacting condensate in cells.

INSTRUMENT(S): Q Exactive HF

ORGANISM(S): Caenorhabditis Elegans

TISSUE(S): Whole Body

SUBMITTER: Donglei Zhang  

LAB HEAD: Donglei Zhang

PROVIDER: PXD037342 | Pride | 2023-06-16

REPOSITORIES: Pride