The C. elegans mRNA decapping enzyme shapes morphology of cilia

Abstract Cilia and flagella are evolutionarily conserved organelles that protrude from cell surfaces. Most cilia and flagella are single rod-shaped but some cilia show a variety of shapes. For example, human airway epithelial cells are multiciliated, flagella of crayfish spermatozoon are star-like shaped, and fruit fly spermatozoon extends long flagella. In Caenorhabditis elegans, cilia display morphological diversity of shapes (single, dual rod-type and wing-like and highly-branched shapes). Here we show that DCAP-1 and DCAP-2, which are the homologues of mammalian DCP1 and DCP2 mRNA decapping enzymes, respectively, are involved in formation of dual rod-type and wing-like shaped cilia in C. elegans . mRNA decapping enzyme catalyzes hydrolysis of 5′ cap structure of mRNA, which leads to degradation of mRNA. Rescue experiments showed that DCAP-2 acts not in glial cells surrounding cilia but in neurons. This is the first evidence to demonstrate that mRNA decapping is involved in ciliary shape formation.