Small RNAs couple embryonic developmental programs to gut microbes

Area of Science:

• Developmental biology
• Genetics
• Microbiology

Background:

• Embryogenesis is typically robust to environmental factors.
• Parental environmental exposures can potentially influence offspring development.
• Proactive developmental changes in response to parental environment are poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if and how Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis changes in response to maternal gut microbes.
• To elucidate the mechanisms of intergenerational information transfer during development.

Main Methods:

• Studied Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis.
• Analyzed effects of maternal gut microbes on endodermal cell divisions and morphology.
• Investigated the role of the miR-35 microRNA family and the CDC25 pathway.
• Examined intergenerational information transmission via endogenous RNA interference.

Main Results:

• Harmful maternal gut microbes induce altered endodermal cell divisions and left-right asymmetric development.
• Observed double association between intestinal and primordial germ cells.
• Demonstrated partial rescue of fecundity.
• Identified the miR-35 microRNA family as a key regulator, targeting the CDC25 pathway.

Conclusions:

• C. elegans embryogenesis is adaptable to maternal microbial environments.
• Challenges the assumption of an invariant cell lineage with a fixed cell number.
• Highlights epigenetic control and microRNA-mediated pathways for intergenerational adaptation.