Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India.
Development. 2020 Nov 27;147(22):dev195578. doi: 10.1242/dev.195578.
The germline genome is guarded against invading foreign genetic elements by small RNA-dependent gene-silencing pathways. Components of these pathways localize to, or form distinct aggregates in the vicinity of, germ granules. These components and their dynamics in and out of granules are currently being intensively studied. Here, we report the identification of PLP-1, a protein related to the human single-stranded nucleic acid-binding protein Pur-alpha, as a component of germ granules in We show that PLP-1 is essential for silencing different types of transgenes in the germ line and for suppressing the expression of several endogenous genes controlled by the germline gene-silencing pathways. Our results reveal that PLP-1 functions downstream of small RNA biogenesis during initiation of gene silencing. Based on these results and the earlier findings that Pur-alpha proteins interact with both RNA and protein, we propose that PLP-1 couples certain RNAs with their protein partners in the silencing complex. PLP-1 orthologs localized on RNA granules may similarly contribute to germline gene silencing in other organisms.
种系基因组通过小 RNA 依赖的基因沉默途径来抵御入侵的外源遗传元件。这些途径的组成部分定位于生殖细胞颗粒附近，或在生殖细胞颗粒附近形成独特的聚集物。这些成分及其在颗粒内外的动态变化目前正在被深入研究。在这里，我们报告了 PLP-1 的鉴定，PLP-1 是一种与人的单链核酸结合蛋白 Pur-alpha 相关的蛋白质，是 生殖细胞颗粒的一个组成部分。我们表明，PLP-1 对于沉默生殖系中的不同类型的转基因以及抑制由生殖系基因沉默途径控制的几个内源性基因的表达是必不可少的。我们的结果揭示了 PLP-1 在基因沉默起始时的小 RNA 生物发生过程中起作用。基于这些结果和先前发现的 Pur-alpha 蛋白与 RNA 和蛋白质都相互作用，我们提出 PLP-1 将某些 RNA 与其在沉默复合物中的蛋白伴侣结合在一起。位于 RNA 颗粒上的 PLP-1 同源物可能同样有助于其他生物体中的生殖系基因沉默。
