TY - JOUR TI - SNPC-1.3 is a sex-specific transcription factor that drives male piRNA expression in C. elegans AU - Choi, Charlotte P AU - Tay, Rebecca J AU - Starostik, Margaret R AU - Feng, Suhua AU - Moresco, James J AU - Montgomery, Brooke E AU - Xu, Emily AU - Hammonds, Maya A AU - Schatz, Michael C AU - Montgomery, Taiowa A AU - Yates, John R, III AU - Jacobsen, Steven E AU - Kim, John K A2 - Hobert, Oliver A2 - Manley, James L A2 - Kennedy, Scott VL - 10 PY - 2021 DA - 2021/02/15 SP - e60681 C1 - eLife 2021;10:e60681 DO - 10.7554/eLife.60681 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60681 AB - Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play essential roles in silencing repetitive elements to promote fertility in metazoans. Studies in worms, flies, and mammals reveal that piRNAs are expressed in a sex-specific manner. However, the mechanisms underlying this sex-specific regulation are unknown. Here we identify SNPC-1.3, a male germline-enriched variant of a conserved subunit of the small nuclear RNA-activating protein complex, as a male-specific piRNA transcription factor in Caenorhabditis elegans. SNPC-1.3 colocalizes with the core piRNA transcription factor, SNPC-4, in nuclear foci of the male germline. Binding of SNPC-1.3 at male piRNA loci drives spermatogenic piRNA transcription and requires SNPC-4. Loss of snpc-1.3 leads to depletion of male piRNAs and defects in male-dependent fertility. Furthermore, TRA-1, a master regulator of sex determination, binds to the snpc-1.3 promoter and represses its expression during oogenesis. Loss of TRA-1 targeting causes ectopic expression of snpc-1.3 and male piRNAs during oogenesis. Thus, sexually dimorphic regulation of snpc-1.3 expression coordinates male and female piRNA expression during germline development. KW - piRNA KW - spermatogenesis KW - sex determination KW - germline development KW - TRA-1 KW - transcription JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -