Exploring systemic RNA interference in insects: a genome-wide survey for RNAi genes in Tribolium.

BACKGROUND:RNA interference is a highly conserved cellular mechanism. In some organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, the response can be transmitted systemically. Some insects also exhibit a systemic duanyu1615 response. However, Drosophila, the leading insect model organism, does not show a robust systemic duanyu1615 response, necessitating another model system to study the molecular mechanism of systemic duanyu1615 in insects. RESULTS:We used Tribolium, which exhibits robust systemic as an alternative model system. We have identified the core duanyu1615 genes, as well as genes potentially involved in systemic duanyu1615, from the Tribolium genome. Both phylogenetic and functional analyses suggest that Tribolium has a somewhat larger inventory of core component genes than Drosophila, perhaps allowing a more sensitive response to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). We also identified three Tribolium homologs of C. elegans sid-1, which encodes a possible dsRNA channel. However, detailed sequence analysis has revealed that these Tribolium homologs share more identity with another C. elegans gene, tag-130. We analyzed tag-130 mutants, and found that this gene does not have a function in systemic duanyu1615 in C. elegans. Likewise, the Tribolium sid-like genes do not seem to be required for systemic These results suggest that insect sid-1-like genes have a different function than dsRNA uptake. Moreover, Tribolium lacks homologs of several genes important for duanyu1615 in C. elegans. CONCLUSION:Although both Tribolium and C. elegans show a robust systemic duanyu1615 response, our genome-wide survey reveals significant differences between the duanyu1615 mechanisms of these organisms. Thus, insects may use an alternative mechanism for the systemic duanyu1615 response. Understanding this process would assist with rendering other insects amenable to systemic duanyu1615, and may influence pest control approaches.

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