UNASSIGNED: Germ cells contain non-membrane bound cytoplasmic organelles that help maintain germline integrity. In @entity2199 they are called P granules; without them, the germline undergoes partial masculinization and aberrant differentiation. One key P-granule component is the Argonaute @entity29093 , a small-RNA binding protein that antagonizes accumulation of sperm-specific transcripts in developing oocytes and fine-tunes expression of proteins critical to early embryogenesis. Loss of @entity29093 complex components results in a very specific, enlarged P-granule phenotype. In a forward screen to identify mutants with abnormal P granules, ten alleles were recovered with a @entity29093 P-granule phenotype, eight of which contain mutations in known components of the @entity29093 complex ( @entity29093 , @entity29092 , @entity29094 , and @entity29095 ). The remaining two alleles are in a novel gene now called elli-1 (enlarged germline granules). ELLI-1 is first expressed in primordial germ cells during mid-embryogenesis, and continues to be expressed in the adult germline. While ELLI-1 forms cytoplasmic aggregates, they occasionally dock, but do not co-localize with P granules. Instead, the majority of ELLI-1 aggregates accumulate in the shared germline cytoplasm. In elli-1 mutants, several genes that promote RNAi and P-granule accumulation are upregulated, and @entity2085 , sterility, and RNAi resistance in a hypomorphic @entity29095 allele is enhanced, suggesting that ELLI-1 functions with @entity29093 to modulate RNAi activity, P-granule accumulation, and post-transcriptional expression in the germline.

ELLI-1, a novel germline protein, modulates RNAi activity and P-granule accumulation in XXXX .

@entity2199 :: ('6239', 'Species') :: ['C. elegans'] @entity2085 :: ('MESH:D020964', 'Disease') :: ['embryonic lethality'] @entity29095 :: ('172546(Tax:6239)', 'Gene') :: ['drh-3'] @entity29093 :: ('177591(Tax:6239)', 'Gene') :: ['csr-1', 'CSR-1'] @entity29092 :: ('172524(Tax:6239)', 'Gene') :: ['ego-1'] @entity29094 :: ('172444(Tax:6239)', 'Gene') :: ['ekl-1']
@entity2199 :: (6239,Species) :: ['Caenorhabditis elegans']
