The PIWI-interacting protein Gtsf1 controls the selective degradation of small RNAs in Paramecium
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Ciliates undergo developmentally programmed genome elimination, in which small RNAs direct the removal of transposable elements (TEs) during the development of the somatic nucleus. Twenty-five nucleotide scanRNAs (scnRNAs) are produced from the entire germline genome and transported to the maternal somatic nucleus, where selection of scnRNAs corresponding to germline-specific sequences is thought to take place. Selected scnRNAs then guide the elimination of TEs in the developing somatic nucleus. How germline-specific scnRNAs are selected remains to be determined. Here, we provide important mechanistic insights into the scnRNA selection pathway by identifying a Paramecium homolog of Gtsf1 as essential for the selective degradation of scnRNAs corresponding to retained somatic sequences. Consistently, we also show that Gtsf1 is localized in the maternal somatic nucleus where it associates with the scnRNA-binding protein Ptiwi09. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the scnRNA selection process is critical for genome elimination. We propose that Gtsf1 is required for the coordinated degradation of Ptiwi09-scnRNA complexes that pair with target RNA via the ubiquitin pathway, similarly to the mechanism suggested for microRNA target-directed degradation in metazoans.
Source: Nucleic Acids Research
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae1055
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Cité, Institut Jacques Monod, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule, CEA Paris-Saclay
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,192
Awards: Evolutionary transitions in genomic discrimination of self and non-self: small RNAs, sequence-specific factors and DNA methylation, G120131529, Imagerie et reconstruction multiéchelles de la morphogenèse. (Plateforme d'innovation technologique et méthodologique pour l'imagerie in vivo et la reconstruction des dynamiques multiéchelles de la morphogenèse), G1656904228, Polycomb Repressive Complex in Paramecium: interaction with small RNA machinery and substrate specificity, G2579310621, G2615644652, G2657152313, G2659019386, G2661818348, G3010527862, Idex Paris-Saclay, G304773848, Determinants de l'Identité : de la molécule à l'individu, G3232492675, G3512013453, Programmed DNA elimination in a unicellular model: coordination between DNA cleavage and double-strand break repair, G381665449, G4656594441, G4774453313, G4866930200, G4964816082, G6350981294, Génétique et Epigénétique Nouvelle Ecole, G6803667113, G7240651115, G7269083994, G7337953753, G7999552054, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université de Paris, Selective degradation of small RNAs during programmed genome elimination in Paramecium
OpenAlex ID: W4404574644