This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Choudhary, S.
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Choudhary, S.
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Y.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2007, p. 3995-4005, Vol. 27, No. 11
0270-7306/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.00186-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Double-Stranded-RNA Response Program Important for RNA Interference Efficiency{triangledown}

Swati Choudhary,1,{dagger} Heng-Chi Lee,1,{dagger} Mekhala Maiti,1,{dagger} Qun He,1,{ddagger} Ping Cheng,1,§ Qinghua Liu,2 and Yi Liu1*

Department of Physiology,1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 753902

Received 31 January 2007/ Returned for modification 6 March 2007/ Accepted 13 March 2007

When recognized by the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) produced in eukaryotic cells results in posttranscriptional gene silencing. In addition, dsRNA can trigger the interferon response as part of the immune response in vertebrates. In this study, we show that dsRNA, but not short interfering RNA (siRNA), induces the expression of qde-2 (an Argonaute gene) and dcl-2 (a Dicer gene), two central components of the RNAi pathway in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. The induction of QDE-2 by dsRNA is required for normal gene silencing, indicating that this is a regulatory mechanism that allows the optimal function of the RNAi pathway. In addition, we demonstrate that Dicer proteins (DCLs) regulate QDE-2 posttranscriptionally, suggesting a role for DCLs or siRNA in QDE-2 accumulation. Finally, a genome-wide search revealed that additional RNAi components and homologs of antiviral and interferon-stimulated genes are also dsRNA-activated genes in Neurospora. Together, our results suggest that the activation of the RNAi components is part of a broad ancient host defense response against viral and transposon infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Physiology, Room ND13.214A, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9040. Phone: (214) 645-6033. Fax: (214) 645-6049. E-mail: Yi.Liu{at}UTSouthwestern.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 19 March 2007.

{dagger} S.C., H.-C.L., and M.M. contributed equally to this study.

{ddagger} Present address: State Key Laboratory for Agro-Biotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, Chinese Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, People's Republic of China.

§ Present address: Merck Research Laboratories, 126 E. Lincoln Ave., Rahway, NJ 07065.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2007, p. 3995-4005, Vol. 27, No. 11
0270-7306/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.00186-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sun, Q., Choi, G. H., Nuss, D. L. (2009). A single Argonaute gene is required for induction of RNA silencing antiviral defense and promotes viral RNA recombination. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 17927-17932 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Haro, J. P., Calo, S., Cervantes, M., Nicolas, F. E., Torres-Martinez, S., Ruiz-Vazquez, R. M. (2009). A Single dicer Gene Is Required for Efficient Gene Silencing Associated with Two Classes of Small Antisense RNAs in Mucor circinelloides. Eukaryot Cell 8: 1486-1497 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kadotani, N., Murata, T., Quoc, N. B., Adachi, Y., Nakayashiki, H. (2008). Transcriptional Control and Protein Specialization Have Roles in the Functional Diversification of Two Dicer-Like Proteins in Magnaporthe oryzae. Genetics 180: 1245-1249 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, X., Segers, G. C., Sun, Q., Deng, F., Nuss, D. L. (2008). Characterization of Hypovirus-Derived Small RNAs Generated in the Chestnut Blight Fungus by an Inducible DCL-2-Dependent Pathway. J. Virol. 82: 2613-2619 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»