To investigate the roles of miRNAs in animal survival during starvation-induced L1 diapause, we impaired the overall miRISC function with loss-of-function (lf) mutants of ain-1 (ku322, ku425, and tm3681) and ain-2(tm2432) and examined their L1 starvation survival rate (Materials and Methods). The strong suppression of the mir-71(lf) defect by hbl-1(RNAi), and the relatively weak effect of miR-71 on hbl-1 expression, are consistent with the idea that miR-71 exerts its role by modulating activities of multiple genes related to hbl-1 function in developmental timing. In contrast, the nuclear-localized GFP expression under the control of the 3′UTR of age-1(Fig. 3 C and D) or unc-31 (Fig. 3 E and F) was strongly repressed in the control worms, but prominently derepressed in mir-71(lf) mutant worms. If the 3′UTR of age-1 or unc-31 is repressed by miR-71, the GFP expression will be repressed in tissues where miR-71 is expressed in wild-type worms, but derepressed in the same tissues of mir-71(lf) worms. (A) The mir-71(n4115, lf) mutant displayed severe reduction in L1 starvation survival rate, and the reduced survival rate of mir-71(lf) was suppressed by a reduction-of-function allele of age-1(hx546). (C) The reduced L1 starvation survival rate of ain-1(lf) mutants was significantly suppressed by a null allele of unc-31.
Consistent with the observation described above, the 4-d–starved mir-71(lf) mutants recovering on the RNAi control plates displayed the highly penetrant retarded defect in VPC division. If this were true, the starved mir-71(lf); daf-16(lf) double-mutant worms should show a slow growth phenotype similar to that of daf-16(lf) worms, but no specific VPC timing defect. (H) Fluorescence and DIC images showing that a lin-42 3′UTR reporter was repressed in mir-71(+) worms (2/2 transgenic lines) and prominently derepressed in mir-71(−) worms (2/2 transgenic lines). We thus asked whether miR-71 was required for the reinitiation of developmental programs during the recovery phase after L1 starvation. These results suggest that miR-71 regulates the expression of unc-31 and age-1 through their 3′UTRs. Note that there are extra GFP-positive cells (red arrows) in mir-71(lf) mutants.
(E) DIC images showing that hbl-1(RNAi) caused precocious VPC divisions in late L2/early L3 in both wild-type and mir-71(lf) worms recovered from 4 d of L1 starvation. Note that the daf-16(lf) worms recovering from 3 d of L1 starvation displayed a ∼12-h delay in overall development and that the mir-71(lf); daf-16(lf) double mutants displayed an ∼24-h delay. (C) Bar graph showing that the delayed VPC timing defects of mir-71(lf) worms was suppressed by an unc-31(lf) mutation and partially suppressed by an age-1(rf) mutation. In worms that recovered from 4 d of L1 starvation, we also found that a significant portion of the mir-71(lf) mutants displayed egg-laying defects and overproliferating or precociously reflexed gonads.
- In this study, we addressed the questions of whether and how miRNAs impact developmental arrest and the long-term survival of early L1 stage worms in response to food starvation.
- However, we found that the reporter transgene with the lin-42 3′UTR was significantly repressed in wild-type worms, but derepressed in the mir-71(lf) worms (Fig. 4 H and I).
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- However, when newly hatched L1 worms encounter an environment with no food, developmental programs arrest and the worm enters L1 diapause.
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- (Right panels) The gonad of the same animals in the Left panels to indicate the similar developmental stage.
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- However, it remains unclear how, and to what extent, miRNAs coordinate animal survival and development in response to stresses.
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