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GTSF ‐1 is required for formation of a functional RNA ‐dependent RNA Polymerase complex in Caenorhabditis elegans
Author(s) -
Almeida Miguel Vasconcelos,
Dietz Sabrina,
Redl Stefan,
Karaulanov Emil,
Hildebrandt Andrea,
Renz Christian,
Ulrich Helle D,
König Julian,
Butter Falk,
Ketting René F
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.201899325
Subject(s) - caenorhabditis elegans , biology , rna , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
Argonaute proteins and their associated small RNA s ( sRNA s) are evolutionarily conserved regulators of gene expression. Gametocyte‐specific factor 1 (Gtsf1) proteins, characterized by two tandem CHHC zinc fingers and an unstructured C‐terminal tail, are conserved in animals and have been shown to interact with Piwi clade Argonautes, thereby assisting their activity. We identified the Caenorhabditis elegans Gtsf1 homolog, named it gtsf‐1 and characterized it in the context of the sRNA pathways of C. elegans . We report that GTSF ‐1 is not required for Piwi‐mediated gene silencing. Instead, gtsf‐1 mutants show a striking depletion of 26G‐ RNA s, a class of endogenous sRNA s, fully phenocopying rrf‐3 mutants. We show, both in vivo and in vitro , that GTSF ‐1 interacts with RRF ‐3 via its CHHC zinc fingers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that GTSF ‐1 is required for the assembly of a larger RRF ‐3 and DCR ‐1‐containing complex ( ERIC ), thereby allowing for 26G‐ RNA generation. We propose that GTSF ‐1 homologs may act to drive the assembly of larger complexes that act in sRNA production and/or in imposing sRNA ‐mediated silencing activities.