Project description:In many metazoans, germ cells are separated from somatic lineages early in development and maintain their identity throughout life. Here we show that a Polycomb group (PcG) component, Enhancer of Zeste [E(z)] H3K27me3-specific methyltransferase, maintains germline identity in Drosophila adult testes. We find excessive early-stage somatic gonadal cells in E(z) mutant testes, which originate from both over-proliferative cyst stem cells and germ cells turning on an early-stage somatic cell marker. Using complementary lineage-tracing experiments in E(z) mutant testes, a portion of excessive early-stage somatic gonadal cells are found to derive from early-stage germ cells, including germline stem cells. Interestingly, knocking down E(z) specifically in somatic cells caused this germline-to-soma change, suggesting a non-cell autonomous role of E(z) to antagonize somatic identity in germ cells. Using fly testis specifically expressing E(z) shmiR RNAi in germ cells by nos promoter driven GAL4>UAS system, ChIPseq with H3K27me3 antibody was performed, where H3K27me3 is only detected in somatic cells.
Project description:With the ChIP-seq experiment, we identified direct target genes of E(Pc) specifically in somatic gonadal cells. We found that the E(Pc)-binding genes are enriched with signaling pathway components, consistent with our functional data showing prevailing germline defects even when E(Pc) function is exclusively compromised in somatic gonadal cells. In addition, we also performed RNA-seq to compare transcriptomes between E(Pc) knockdown testes and control testes.
Project description:Histone modifications represent one of the key factors contributing to proper genome regulation. One of the histone modifications involved in gene silencing is H3K9 methylation, which is found in the chromosomes across different eukaryotes and controlled by SU(VAR)3-9 and its orthologs. Although SU(VAR)3-9 was discovered over two decades ago, little is known about the details of its chromosomal distribution pattern. To fill in this gap, we used DamID-seq approach and obtained high-resolution genome-wide profiles for SU(VAR)3-9 in two somatic and two germline tissues of fruitfly.
Project description:The Piwi-piRNA pathway is well known for its germline function, yet its somatic role remains elusive. We show here that Piwi is required autonomously not only for germline stem cell (GSC) but also for somatic cyst stem cell (CySC) maintenance in the Drosophila testis. Reducing Piwi activity in the testis caused defects in CySC differentiation. Accompanying this, GSC daughters expanded beyond the vicinity of the hub but failed to differentiate further. Moreover, Piwi deficient in nuclear localization caused similar defects in somatic and germ cell differentiation, which was rescued by somatic Piwi expression. To explore the underlying molecular mechanism, we identified Piwi-bound piRNAs that uniquely map to a gene key for gonadal development, Fasciclin 3, and demonstrate that Piwi regulates its expression in somatic cyst cells. Our work reveals the cell-autonomous function of Piwi in both somatic and germline stem cell types, with somatic function possibly via its epigenetic mechanism. Examination of Piwi-piRNAs in fly testis