ArticleGenes & development2012
MUT-16 promotes formation of perinuclear mutator foci required for RNA silencing in the C. elegans germline.
Article in Genes & development, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers.
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Who cites it
145 citing papers in PubMed, 224 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Systematic identification of germ granule proteins reveals specialized roles in RNAi and small RNA inheritance.Genes & development · 2026Article
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- Mating strategies in Caenorhabditis elegans populations are determined by male developmental history.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
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- A TCER-1-siRNA regulatory axis suppresses antibacterial innate immunity in C. elegans.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- AMPK tunes reproductive gene expression and small RNA homeostasis to mediate timely germ cell development.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Germ granule components regulate endosomal switching during the oocyte-to-embryo transition in Caenorhabditis elegans.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Functional requirement for Dicer helicase arginine methylation in 26 G siRNA biogenesis and oocyte meiotic program.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Characterization of Orsay virus replication intermediates inMolecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- Decoding Argonaute specificity: insights fromRNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Review
- Systematic Identification of Germ Granule Proteins Reveals Specialized Roles in RNAi and Small RNA Inheritance.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Kinetochore components are perinuclear and form condensates inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Nuclear Argonaute HRDE-1 Maintains Chromatin-Independent Transcriptional Silencing through a Transgenerational Small RNA Feedback Loop.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Germ granule localization of nematode Argonaute WAGO-4 ensures fidelity in small RNA loading.The EMBO journal · 2025Article
- TurboID-based proximity labeling identifies novel germline proteins that maintain E granule integrity and small RNA homeostasis in C. elegans.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Article
- RG motifs promote piRNA-mediated gene silencing in C. elegans.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Viral RNA pUGylation promotes antiviral immunity inJournal of virology · 2025Article
- Multi-scale simulations of MUT-16 scaffold protein phase separation and client recognition.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
RNA silencing can be initiated by endogenous or exogenously delivered siRNAs. In Caenorhabditis elegans, RNA silencing guided by primary siRNAs is inefficient and therefore requires an siRNA amplification step involving RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs). Many factors involved in RNA silencing localize to protein- and RNA-rich nuclear pore-associated P granules in the germline, where they are thought to surveil mRNAs as they exit the nucleus. Mutator class genes are required for siRNA-mediated RNA silencing in both germline and somatic cells, but their specific roles and relationship to other siRNA factors are unclear. Here we show that each of the six mutator proteins localizes to punctate foci at the periphery of germline nuclei. The Mutator foci are adjacent to P granules but are not dependent on core P-granule components or other RNAi pathway factors for their formation or stability. The glutamine/asparagine (Q/N)-rich protein MUT-16 is specifically required for the formation of a protein complex containing the mutator proteins, and in its absence, Mutator foci fail to form at the nuclear periphery. The RdRP RRF-1 colocalizes with MUT-16 at Mutator foci, suggesting a role for Mutator foci in siRNA amplification. Furthermore, we demonstrate that genes that yield high levels of siRNAs, indicative of multiple rounds of siRNA amplification, are disproportionally affected in mut-16 mutants compared with genes that yield low levels of siRNAs. We propose that the mutator proteins and RRF-1 constitute an RNA processing compartment required for siRNA amplification and RNA silencing.
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