---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '22267'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Thermal pollution, whether local or driven by global warming, threatens biodiversity
    in part through its detrimental effects on reproduction. Non-coding small RNAs
    (sRNAs) are crucial for maintaining germline developmental robustness under heat
    stress. Remarkably, we uncovered that neuronal sRNAs regulate germ cells’ thermotolerance,
    affecting both spermatogenic and oogenic germlines in a cell-non-autonomous manner.
    Furthermore, we demonstrate that, in RNAi mutants, an oxygen-sensing neural circuit,
    modulated by neuropeptide signaling, antagonizes germline maintenance, likely
    reflecting the nematode’s innate association of reduced oxygen levels with food
    availability and reproductive permissive environments. Finally, we provide evidence
    that laboratory-domesticated alleles of oxygen-response genes encoding neuropeptide
    receptor NPR-1 and hexacoordinated globin GLB-5 compromise germline thermotolerance.
    Hence, our findings raise the possibility that sensory perception, independent
    of direct environmental change, modulates germline integrity, highlighting a novel
    mechanism by which neural circuits integrate environmental information to safeguard
    reproductive fitness in fluctuating environments.
acknowledgement: We thank Itai Reiger for their assistance with experiments. We thank
  Cori Bargmann (Rockefeller University) for providing introgressed strains carrying
  HW alleles of npr-1 and glb-5. Some graphics were created with Biorender.com. We
  are grateful to WormBase for providing valuable data and resources. Some strains
  were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC), which is funded by NIH
  Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (P40 OD010440). O.R. is grateful for
  the support of the Morris Kahn Foundation. C.K.E. was supported by an EMBO fellowship
  ALTF 6-2022. This work is funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation
  Polymath Award 0140001000 (O.R.); European Research Council grant 335624 (O.R.);
  Israel Science Foundation 979/21 (Y.B.T.); and the US-Israel Binational Science
  Foundation 2023036 (Y.B.T.).
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Chee Kiang
  full_name: Ewe, Chee Kiang
  last_name: Ewe
- first_name: Hanna
  full_name: Achache, Hanna
  last_name: Achache
- first_name: Hanna
  full_name: Schön, Hanna
  id: C8E17EDC-D7AA-11E9-B7B7-45ECE5697425
  last_name: Schön
- first_name: Leonid
  full_name: Kontorovich, Leonid
  last_name: Kontorovich
- first_name: Guy
  full_name: Teichman, Guy
  last_name: Teichman
- first_name: Shir
  full_name: Weiss, Shir
  last_name: Weiss
- first_name: Anna
  full_name: Mogilevskaya, Anna
  last_name: Mogilevskaya
- first_name: Myriam
  full_name: Valenski, Myriam
  last_name: Valenski
- first_name: Sarit
  full_name: Anava, Sarit
  last_name: Anava
- first_name: Rutwik
  full_name: Bardapurkar, Rutwik
  last_name: Bardapurkar
- first_name: Hila
  full_name: Gingold, Hila
  last_name: Gingold
- first_name: Rachel
  full_name: Posner, Rachel
  last_name: Posner
- first_name: Olga
  full_name: Antonova, Olga
  last_name: Antonova
- first_name: Mario
  full_name: De Bono, Mario
  id: 4E3FF80E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: De Bono
  orcid: 0000-0001-8347-0443
- first_name: Yonatan B.
  full_name: Tzur, Yonatan B.
  last_name: Tzur
- first_name: Oded
  full_name: Rechavi, Oded
  last_name: Rechavi
citation:
  ama: Ewe CK, Achache H, Schön H, et al. Neuronal RNAi and oxygen-sensing circuit
    shape germline resilience to heat stress. <i>Current Biology</i>. 2026;36(14):3566-3579.e5.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016">10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016</a>
  apa: Ewe, C. K., Achache, H., Schön, H., Kontorovich, L., Teichman, G., Weiss, S.,
    … Rechavi, O. (2026). Neuronal RNAi and oxygen-sensing circuit shape germline
    resilience to heat stress. <i>Current Biology</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016</a>
  chicago: Ewe, Chee Kiang, Hanna Achache, Hanna Schön, Leonid Kontorovich, Guy Teichman,
    Shir Weiss, Anna Mogilevskaya, et al. “Neuronal RNAi and Oxygen-Sensing Circuit
    Shape Germline Resilience to Heat Stress.” <i>Current Biology</i>. Elsevier, 2026.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016</a>.
  ieee: C. K. Ewe <i>et al.</i>, “Neuronal RNAi and oxygen-sensing circuit shape germline
    resilience to heat stress,” <i>Current Biology</i>, vol. 36, no. 14. Elsevier,
    p. 3566–3579.e5, 2026.
  ista: Ewe CK, Achache H, Schön H, Kontorovich L, Teichman G, Weiss S, Mogilevskaya
    A, Valenski M, Anava S, Bardapurkar R, Gingold H, Posner R, Antonova O, de Bono
    M, Tzur YB, Rechavi O. 2026. Neuronal RNAi and oxygen-sensing circuit shape germline
    resilience to heat stress. Current Biology. 36(14), 3566–3579.e5.
  mla: Ewe, Chee Kiang, et al. “Neuronal RNAi and Oxygen-Sensing Circuit Shape Germline
    Resilience to Heat Stress.” <i>Current Biology</i>, vol. 36, no. 14, Elsevier,
    2026, p. 3566–3579.e5, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016">10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016</a>.
  short: C.K. Ewe, H. Achache, H. Schön, L. Kontorovich, G. Teichman, S. Weiss, A.
    Mogilevskaya, M. Valenski, S. Anava, R. Bardapurkar, H. Gingold, R. Posner, O.
    Antonova, M. de Bono, Y.B. Tzur, O. Rechavi, Current Biology 36 (2026) 3566–3579.e5.
das_tickbox: '1'
dataavailabilitystatement: "* All NGS data are available through GEO under accession
  number GSE331410.\r\n* This paper does not report original code.\r\n* Any additional
  information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from
  the lead contact upon request."
date_created: 2026-07-12T22:02:18Z
date_published: 2026-07-20T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-07-28T07:32:06Z
day: '20'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: MaDe
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '42409014'
file:
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  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2026-07-28T07:31:44Z
  date_updated: 2026-07-28T07:31:44Z
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file_date_updated: 2026-07-28T07:31:44Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.016
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        36'
issue: '14'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 3566-3579.e5
pmid: 1
publication: Current Biology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1879-0445
  issn:
  - 0960-9822
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: upon request
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: Neuronal RNAi and oxygen-sensing circuit shape germline resilience to heat
  stress
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 36
year: '2026'
...