CGC Bibliography Paper 4886

Identification of in vivo mRNA targets of GLD-1, a maxi-KH motif containing protein required for C. elegans germ cell development.

Lee MH, Schedl T

Medline:

21446504

Citation:

Genes & Development 15: 2408-2420 2001

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

cej-1 fbf-1 fbf-2 fog-3 gld-1 lin-45 mpk-1 ncc-1 puf-5 puf-6 puf-7 puf-10 rme-2 tra-2

Abstract:

Caenorhabditis elegans GLD-1, a KH motif containing RNA-binding protein of the GSG/STAR subfamily, controls diverse aspects of germ line development, suggesting that it may have multiple mRNA targets. We used an immunoprecipitation/subtractive hybridization/cloning strategy to identify 15 mRNAs that are putative targets of GLD-1 binding and regulation. For one target, the rme-2 yolk receptor mRNA, GLD-1 acts as a translational repressor to spatially restrict RME-2 accumulation, and thus yolk uptake, to late-stage oocytes. We found that GLD-1 binds sequences in both 5 ' coding and the 3 ' untranslated region of rme-2 mRNA. Initial characterization of the other 14 targets shows that (1) they are coexpressed with GLD-1; (2) they can have mutant/RNA-mediated interference depletion phenotypes indicating functions in germ line development or as maternal products necessary for early embryogenesis; and (3) GLD-1 may coregulate mRNAs corresponding to functionally redundant subsets of genes within two gene families. Thus, a diverse set of genes have come under GLD-1-mediated regulation to achieve normal germ line development. Previous work identified tra-2 as a GLD-1 target for germ line sex determination. Comparisons of GLD-1-mediated translational control of rme-2 and tra-2 suggests that the mechanisms may differ for distinct target