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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2004, p. 7370-7379, Vol. 24, No. 17
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.17.7370-7379.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

RNA-Mediated Programming of Developmental Genome Rearrangements in Paramecium tetraurelia

Olivier Garnier,{dagger} Vincent Serrano,{dagger} Sandra Duharcourt, and Eric Meyer*

Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS UMR 8541, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

Received 13 February 2004/ Returned for modification 24 March 2004/ Accepted 5 June 2004

The germ line genome of ciliates is extensively rearranged during development of the somatic macronucleus. Numerous sequences are eliminated, while others are amplified to a high ploidy level. In the Paramecium aurelia group of species, transformation of the maternal macronucleus with transgenes at high copy numbers can induce the deletion of homologous genes in sexual progeny, when a new macronucleus develops from the wild-type germ line. We show that this trans-nuclear effect correlates with homology-dependent silencing of maternal genes before autogamy and with the accumulation of ~22- to 23-nucleotide (nt) RNA molecules. The same effects are induced by feeding cells before meiosis with bacteria containing double-stranded RNA, suggesting that small interfering RNA-like molecules can target deletions. Furthermore, experimentally induced macronuclear deletions are spontaneously reproduced in subsequent sexual generations, and reintroduction of the missing gene into the variant macronucleus restores developmental amplification in sexual progeny. We discuss the possible roles of the ~22- to 23-nt RNAs in the targeting of deletions and the implications for the RNA-mediated genome-scanning process that is thought to determine developmentally regulated rearrangements in ciliates.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS UMR 8541, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46, rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France. Phone: 33 1 44 32 39 48. Fax: 33 1 44 32 39 41. E-mail: emeyer{at}wotan.ens.fr.

{dagger} O.G. and V.S. contributed equally to this work.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2004, p. 7370-7379, Vol. 24, No. 17
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.17.7370-7379.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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