An endogenous small interfering RNA pathway in Drosophila

Czech, B., Malone, C. D., Zhou, R., Stark, A., Schlingeheyde, C., Dus, M., Perrimon, N., Kellis, M., Wohlschlegel, J. A., Sachidanandam, R., Hannon, G. J., Brennecke, J. (2008) An endogenous small interfering RNA pathway in Drosophila. Nature, 453 (7196). pp. 798-802. ISSN 0028-0836

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Abstract

Drosophila endogenous small RNAs are categorized according to their mechanisms of biogenesis and the Argonaute protein to which they bind. MicroRNAs are a class of ubiquitously expressed RNAs of 22 nucleotides in length, which arise from structured precursors through the action of Drosha - Pasha and Dicer- 1-Loquacious complexes(1-7). These join Argonaute-1 to regulate gene expression(8,9). A second endogenous small RNA class, the Piwi-interacting RNAs, bind Piwi proteins and suppress transposons(10,11). Piwi- interacting RNAs are restricted to the gonad, and at least a subset of these arises by Piwi- catalysed cleavage of single-stranded RNAs12,13. Here we show that Drosophila generates a third small RNA class, endogenous small interfering RNAs, in both gonadal and somatic tissues. Production of these RNAs requires Dicer- 2, but a subset depends preferentially on Loquacious(1,4,5) rather than the canonical Dicer- 2 partner, R2D2 ( ref. 14). Endogenous small interfering RNAs arise both from convergent transcription units and from structured genomic loci in a tissue- specific fashion. They predominantly join Argonaute- 2 and have the capacity, as a class, to target both protein- coding genes and mobile elements. These observations expand the repertoire of small RNAs in Drosophila, adding a class that blurs distinctions based on known biogenesis mechanisms and functional roles.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: C-ELEGANS MICRORNA MATURATION ARGONAUTE PROTEINS DISTINCT ROLES BIOGENESIS INITIATION GERMLINE ELEMENTS REVEALS VIRUSES
Subjects: organism description > animal > C elegans
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > argonaute proteins
organism description > virus
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Hannon lab
CSHL labs > Sachidanandam lab
School of Biological Sciences > Publications
Depositing User: Tom Adams
Date: 2008
Date Deposited: 25 Aug 2011 18:13
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2014 15:58
PMCID: PMC2895258
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/7713

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