Hendrik C. Korswagen, Francesca Palladino, Gwen Soete, Cédric Rakotomalala, Steve Dunkelbarger, Valérie J. P. Robert, Thomas Simonet, Cécile Bedet, Yu Xiao, Susan Strome, Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule (LBMC), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Biology, Indiana University [Bloomington], Indiana University System-Indiana University System, Hubrecht Institute, Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California (UC), Laboratoire de biologie et modélisation de la cellule (LBMC UMR 5239), École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 (LBBE), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon, University of California, Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-IPG PARIS-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
Methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me), a mark associated with gene activation, is mediated by SET1 and the related mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) histone methyltransferases (HMTs) across species. Mammals contain seven H3K4 HMTs, Set1A, Set1B, and MLL1-MLL5. The activity of SET1 and MLL proteins relies on protein-protein interactions within large multisubunit complexes that include three core components: RbBP5, Ash2L, and WDR5. It remains unclear how the composition and specificity of these complexes varies between cell types and during development. Caenorhabditis elegans contains one SET1 protein, SET-2, one MLL-like protein, SET-16, and single homologs of RbBP5, Ash2L, and WDR5. Here we show that SET-2 is responsible for the majority of bulk H3K4 methylation at all developmental stages. However, SET-2 and absent, small, or homeotic discs 2 (ASH-2) are differentially required for tri- and dimethylation of H3K4 (H3K4me3 and -me2) in embryos and adult germ cells. In embryos, whereas efficient H3K4me3 requires both SET-2 and ASH-2, H3K4me2 relies mostly on ASH-2. In adult germ cells by contrast, SET-2 serves a major role whereas ASH-2 is dispensable for H3K4me3 and most H3K4me2. Loss of SET-2 results in progressive sterility over several generations, suggesting an important function in the maintenance of a functional germ line. This study demonstrates that individual subunits of SET1-related complexes can show tissue specificity and developmental regulation and establishes C. elegans as a model to study SET1-related complexes in a multicellular organism. [KEYWORDS: Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans/ physiology, Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/ physiology, Embryo, Nonmammalian/ metabolism, Germ Cells/ metabolism, Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase/ physiology, Histones/ metabolism, Lysine/metabolism, Methylation, Nuclear Proteins/ physiology, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins/physiology]