The Ecdysone Receptor Coactivator Taiman Links Yorkie to Transcriptional Control of Germline Stem Cell Factors in Somatic Tissue

The Hippo pathway is a conserved signaling cascade that modulates tissue growth. Although its core elements are well defined, factors modulating Hippo transcriptional outputs remain elusive. Here we show that components of the steroid-responsive ecdysone (Ec) pathway modulate Hippo transcriptional effects in imaginal disc cells. The Ec receptor coactivator Taiman (Tai) interacts with the Hippo transcriptional coactivator Yorkie (Yki) and promotes expression of canonical Yki-responsive genes. Tai enhances Yki-driven growth, while Tai loss, or a form of Tai unable to bind Yki, suppresses Yki-driven tissue growth. This growth suppression is not correlated with impaired induction of canonical Hippo-responsive genes but with suppression of a distinct pro-growth program of Yki-induced/Tai-dependent genes, including the germline stem cell factors nanos and piwi. These data reveal Hippo/Ec pathway crosstalk in the form a Yki-Tai complex that collaboratively induces germline genes as part of a transcriptional program that is normally repressed in developing somatic epithelia. [Display omitted] •The Drosophila EcR coactivator Tai binds the Hippo pathway coactivator Yki•Tai modulates expression of classic Yki target genes in developing imaginal discs•Tai’s role in Yki-driven hyperplasia is independent of classic Yki target genes•Tai links hyperactive Yki to expression of germline mRNAs in disc cells Zhang and Robinson et al. define an interaction between the Hippo pathway component Yorkie and the ecdysone receptor transcriptional coactivator Taiman. This interaction links Yorkie to mRNAs of germline stem cell factors Piwi and Nanos, identifying them as required elements of a Hippo-repressed growth program in somatic disc cells.