The embryonic mir-35 family of microRNAs promotes multiple aspects of fecundity in Caenorhabditis elegans
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2014-07-21Keywords
fertilitygermline
male fertility
maternal effect
sperm
Biochemistry
Developmental Biology
Molecular Biology
Molecular Genetics
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MicroRNAs guide many aspects of development in all metazoan species. Frequently, microRNAs are expressed during a specific developmental stage to perform a temporally defined function. The C. elegans mir-35-42 microRNAs are expressed abundantly in oocytes and early embryos and are essential for embryonic development. Here, we show that these embryonic microRNAs surprisingly also function to control the number of progeny produced by adult hermaphrodites. Using a temperature-sensitive mir-35-42 family mutant (a deletion of the mir-35-41 cluster), we demonstrate three distinct defects in hermaphrodite fecundity. At permissive temperatures, a mild sperm defect partially reduces hermaphrodite fecundity. At restrictive temperatures, somatic gonad dysfunction combined with a severe sperm defect sharply reduces fecundity. Multiple lines of evidence, including a late embryonic temperature-sensitive period, support a role for mir-35-41 early during development to promote subsequent sperm production in later larval stages. We further show that the predicted mir-35 family target sup-26 (suppressor-26) acts downstream of mir-35-41 in this process, suggesting that sup-26 de-repression in mir-35-41 deletion mutants may contribute to temperature-sensitive loss of fecundity. In addition, these microRNAs play a role in male fertility, promoting proper morphogenesis of male-specific mating structures. Overall, our results demonstrate that robust activity of the mir-35-42 family microRNAs not only is essential for embryonic development across a range of temperatures but also enables the worm to subsequently develop full reproductive capacity.Source
G3 (Bethesda). 2014 Jul 21;4(9):1747-54. doi: 10.1534/g3.114.011973. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1534/g3.114.011973Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/44428PubMed ID
25053708Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedDistribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1534/g3.114.011973
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/