LSY-2 is essential for maintaining the germ-soma distinction in <i>C</i>. elegans

doi:10.1007/s13238-015-0173-1

Protein Cell

2015, Vol. 6

Issue (8) : 599-609 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238-015-0173-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

LSY-2 is essential for maintaining the germ-soma distinction in C. elegans

Long Lin^1,^2,³,Yuping Li³,Libo Yan²,Gangming Zhang³,Yu Zhao²,Hong Zhang^3,^*(

)

1. College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2. National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing 102206, China
3. State Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

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Abstract

The mechanisms that specify and maintain the characteristics of germ cells during animal development are poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that loss of function of the zinc-finger gene lsy-2 results in various somatic cells adopting germ cells characteristics, including expression of germline-specific P granules, enhanced RNAi activity and transgene silencing. The soma to germ transformation in lsy-2 mutants requires the activities of multiple chromatin remodeling complexes, including the MES-4 complex and the ISW-1 complex. The distinct germline-specific features in somatic cells and the gene expression profile indicate that LSY-2 acts in the Mec complex in this process. Our study demonstrated that lsy-2 functions in the maintenance of the soma-germ distinction.

Keywords P granules soma lsy-2 C. elegans

Corresponding Author(s): Hong Zhang

Issue Date: 05 August 2015

Cite this article:

Long Lin,Yuping Li,Libo Yan, et al. LSY-2 is essential for maintaining the germ-soma distinction in C. elegans[J]. Protein Cell, 2015, 6(8): 599-609.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/pac/EN/10.1007/s13238-015-0173-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/pac/EN/Y2015/V6/I8/599

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