The TRIM-NHL protein NHL-2 is a co-factor in the nuclear and somatic RNAi pathways in C. elegans

• Published in: eLife Vol. 7
• Main Authors: Davis, Gregory M, Tu, Shikui, Anderson, Joshua WT, Colson, Rhys N, Gunzburg, Menachem J, Francisco, Michelle A, Ray, Debashish, Shrubsole, Sean P, Sobotka, Julia A, Seroussi, Uri, Lao, Robert X, Maity, Tuhin, Wu, Monica Z, McJunkin, Katherine, Morris, Quaid D, Hughes, Timothy R, Wilce, Jacqueline A, Claycomb, Julie M, Weng, Zhiping, Boag, Peter R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 21.12.2018; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: 22G RNAs; Biology; Biosynthesis; Caenorhabditis elegans; Chromatin; Chromosomes and Gene Expression; Gene expression; Genetics and Genomics; Genomes; Homeostasis; Meiosis; Proteins; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA polymerase; RNA-binding protein; RNA-mediated interference; RNAi; small RNAs; TRIM-NHL; Australia; United States > US
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.35478

Proper regulation of germline gene expression is essential for fertility and maintaining species integrity. In the C. elegans germline, a diverse repertoire of regulatory pathways promote the expression of endogenous germline genes and limit the expression of deleterious transcripts to maintain genome homeostasis. Here we show that the conserved TRIM-NHL protein, NHL-2, plays an essential role in the C. elegans germline, modulating germline chromatin and meiotic chromosome organization. We uncover a role for NHL-2 as a co-factor in both positively (CSR-1) and negatively (HRDE-1) acting germline 22G-small RNA pathways and the somatic nuclear RNAi pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrate that NHL-2 is a bona fide RNA binding protein and, along with RNA-seq data point to a small RNA independent role for NHL-2 in regulating transcripts at the level of RNA stability. Collectively, our data implicate NHL-2 as an essential hub of gene regulatory activity in both the germline and soma.