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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.12.13.628416

Landscape and regulation of new protein translation in the early C. elegans embryo

Shukla, Y.·Ghatpande, V.·Hu, C. F.·Dickinson, D. J.·Cenik, C.
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Abstract

Animal embryos rely on regulated translation of maternally deposited mRNAs to drive early development. Using low-input ribosome profiling combined with RNA sequencing on precisely staged embryos, we measured mRNA translation during the first four cell cycles of C. elegans development. We uncovered stage-specific patterns of developmentally coordinated translational regulation. We confirmed that mRNA localization correlates with translational efficiency, though initial translational repression in germline precursors occurs before P-granule association. Our analysis suggests that the RNA-binding protein OMA-1 represses the translation of its target mRNAs in a stage-specific manner, while indirectly promoting the translational efficiency of other transcripts. These findings illuminate how post-transcriptional mechanisms shape the embryonic proteome to direct cell differentiation, with implications for understanding similar regulation across species where maternal factors guide early development.

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Shukla, Y., Ghatpande, V., Hu, C. F., Dickinson, D. J., Cenik, C.. 2024-12-17. Landscape and regulation of new protein translation in the early C. elegans embryo. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.13.628416

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