Phosphorylation of Z granule components regulates germ granule organization and RNAi inheritance
- 1Institute of Molecular Biology
Abstract
Small RNAs represent important carriers of epigenetic information in nematodes, and factors involved in their biogenesis reside within perinuclear germ granules. Among these condensates, Z granules are essential for the inheritance of RNA interference (RNAi). The mechanisms by which Z granules form and promote this process remain unclear. We show that Casein kinase I alpha (KIN-19) is present in Z granules and associated with DEPS-1 and HERD-1 phosphorylation. In the absence of DEPS-1 and HERD-1 phosphorylation, animals have enlarged Z granules and enhanced RNAi inheritance. We propose that DEPS-1 acts as a phosphorylation-regulated scaffold that bridges ZNFX-1 and HERD-1 proteins. Our study demonstrates that Casein kinase I alpha-mediated phosphorylation is an important factor in germ granule modulation and RNAi inheritance, and additionally provides a novel molecular scaffold for understanding germ granule complexity in C. elegans.
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BibTeX
@misc{pshanichnaya2026phosphorylation,
title = {{Phosphorylation of Z granule components regulates germ granule organization and RNAi inheritance}},
author = {L. Pshanichnaya and M. Brehm and I. Mikicic and S. Hellmann and M. Aaquib and P. Beli and S. Falk and R. F. Ketting},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.06.756944},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.756944v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Phosphorylation of Z granule components regulates germ granule organization and RNAi inheritance
AU - L. Pshanichnaya
AU - M. Brehm
AU - I. Mikicic
AU - S. Hellmann
AU - M. Aaquib
AU - P. Beli
AU - S. Falk
AU - R. F. Ketting
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.06.756944
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.756944v1
AB - Small RNAs represent important carriers of epigenetic information in nematodes, and factors involved in their biogenesis reside within perinuclear germ granules. Among these condensates, Z granules are essential for the inheritance of RNA interference (RNAi). The mechanisms by which Z granules form and promote this process remain unclear. We show that Casein kinase I alpha (KIN-19) is present in Z granules and associated with DEPS-1 and HERD-1 phosphorylation. In the absence of DEPS-1 and HERD-1 phosphorylation, animals have enlarged Z granules and enhanced RNAi inheritance. We propose that DEPS-1 acts as a phosphorylation-regulated scaffold that bridges ZNFX-1 and HERD-1 proteins. Our study demonstrates that Casein kinase I alpha-mediated phosphorylation is an important factor in germ granule modulation and RNAi inheritance, and additionally provides a novel molecular scaffold for understanding germ granule complexity in C. elegans.
ER -