The GLHs (germline RNA helicases) are constitutive components of the germline-specific P granules in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegansand are essential for fertility, yet how GLH proteins are regulated remains unknown. KGB-1 and CSN-5 are both GLH binding partners, previously identified by two-hybrid interactions. KGB-1 is a MAP kinase in the Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) subfamily, whereas CSN-5 is a subunit of the COP9 signalosome. Intriguingly, although loss of either KGB-1 or CSN-5 results in sterility,their phenotypes are strikingly different. Whereas csn-5 RNA interference (RNAi) results in under-proliferated germlines, similar to glh-1/glh-4(RNAi), the kgb-1(um3) loss-of-function mutant exhibits germline over-proliferation. When kgb-1(um3) mutants are compared with wild-type C. elegans, GLH-1 protein levels are as much as 6-fold elevated and the organization of GLH-1 in P granules is grossly disrupted. A series of additional in vivo and in vitro tests indicates that KGB-1 and CSN-5 regulate GLH-1 levels, with GLH-1 targeted for proteosomal degradation by KGB-1 and stabilized by CSN-5. We propose the `good cop: bad cop' team of CSN-5 and KGB-1 imposes a balance on GLH-1 levels, resulting in germline homeostasis. In addition, both KGB-1 and CSN-5 bind Vasa, a Drosophila germ granule component; therefore, similar regulatory mechanisms might be conserved from worms to flies.

P granules, ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes specific to the cytoplasmic side of the nuclear pores of C. elegans germ cells, are implicated in post-transcriptional control of maternally-transcribed mRNAs. Here we show a relationship in C. elegans of Dicer, the riboendonuclease processing enzyme of the RNA interference and microRNA pathways, with GLH-1, a germline-specific RNA helicase and a constitutive component of P granules. Based on results from GST-pull-downs and immunoprecipitations, GLH-1 binds DCR-1 and this binding does not require RNA. Both GLH-1 protein and glh-1 mRNA levels are reduced in the dcr-1(ok247) null mutant background; conversely, a reduction of DCR-1 protein is observed in the glh-1(gk100) deletion strain. Thus, in the C. elegans germline, DCR-1 and GLH-1 are interdependent. In addition, evidence indicates DCR-1 protein levels, like those of GLH-1, are likely regulated by the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), KGB-1. In adult germ cells, DCR-1 is found in uniformly-distributed, small puncta both throughout the cytoplasm and the nucleus, on the inner side of nuclear pores, and associated with P granules. In arrested oocytes, GLH-1 and DCR-1 re-localize to cytoplasmic and cortically-distributed RNP granules and are necessary to recruit other components to these complexes. We predict the GLH-1/DCR-1 complex may function in the transport, deposition, or regulation of maternally-transcribed mRNAs and their associated miRNAs.

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Over four hundred different microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified in the genome of the model organism the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. As the germline is dedicated to the preservation of each species, and almost half of all the cells in an adult nematode are germline, it is likely that regulatory miRNAs are important for germline development and maintenance. In C. elegans the miR35 family has strong maternal effects, contributing to normal embryogenesis and to adult fecundity. To determine whether any particular miRNAs are greatly enriched in the C. elegans germline we used RNA-seq to compare the miRNA populations in several germline-defective strains of adult C. elegans worms, including glp-4(germline proliferation-4), glh-1(germline helicase-1) and dcr-1(dicer-1). Statistical analyses of RNA-seq comparisons identified 13 miRNAs that are germline-enriched, including seven members of the well-studied miR35 family that were reduced as much as 1000-fold in TaqMan qRT PCR miRNA assays. Along with the miR35s, six others: miR-56 (a member of the miR51 family),−70, −244, −260 , −788 and −4813, none of which previously considered as such, were also identified by RNA-seq as germline-enriched candidates. We went on to develop a successful miRNA in situ hybridization protocol for C. elegans, revealing miR35s specifically concentrate during oogenesis in the pachytene region of the gonad, and persist throughout early embryogenesis, while in adult animals neither let-7 nor miR-228 has a germline-bias.

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