Germline knockdown of spargel (PGC-1) produces embryonic lethality in Drosophila

The PGC-1 transcriptional coactivators have been proposed as master regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism. Here we show that the single member of the family in Drosophila, spargel (srl) has an essential role in early development. Female germline-specific RNAi knockdown resulted in embryonic semilethality. Embryos were small, with most suffering a catastrophic derangement of cellularization and gastrulation, although genes dependent on localized determinants were expressed normally. The abundance of mtDNA, representative mitochondrial proteins and mRNAs were not decreased in knockdown ovaries or embryos, indicating that srl has a more general role in early development than specifically promoting mitochondrial biogenesis.