RNA interference (RNAi) is a well-conserved mechanism that uses small noncoding RNAs to silence gene expression posttranscriptionally. Gene regulation by RNAi is now recognized as one of the major regulatory pathways in eukaryotic cells. Although the main components of the RNAi/miRNA pathway have been identified, the molecular mechanisms regulating the activity of the RNAi/miRNA pathway have on...

xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Overview and history of RNAi Transcriptional silencing: mechanisms and phylogeny Small RNAs and translational repression Self-regulation of small RNA-mediated pathways Small RNA biogenesis RNAi effector proteins RNA-silencing pathway functions RNAi and disease Concerns regarding RNAi-based therapy CHAPTER II: ATP REQUIREMENTS AND SMALL INTERFERING RNA STRUCTURE IN TH...

The phenomenon of RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) was first discovered in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, in which introduction of double-stranded RNA causes specific inactivation of genes with corresponding sequences. Technical advances in RNAi methodology and the availability of the complete genome sequence have enabled the high-throughput, genome-wide RNAi analysis of this organism. Se...

RNA interference (RNAi) pathways are widespread in metaozoans but the genes required show variable occurrence or activity in eukaryotic microbes, including many pathogens. While some Leishmania lack RNAi activity and Argonaute or Dicer genes, we show that Leishmania braziliensis and other species within the Leishmania subgenus Viannia elaborate active RNAi machinery. Strong attenuation of expre...

The moss Physcomitrella patens performs efficient homologous recombination, which allows for the study of individual gene function by generating gene disruptions. Yet, if the gene of study is essential, gene disruptions cannot be isolated in the predominantly haploid P. patens. Additionally, disruption of a gene does not always generate observable phenotypes due to redundant functions from rela...

Certain RNA and DNA viruses that infect plants, insects, fish or poikilothermic animals encode Class 1 RNaseIII endoribonuclease-like proteins. dsRNA-specific endoribonuclease activity of the RNaseIII of rock bream iridovirus infecting fish and Sweet potato chlorotic stunt crinivirus (SPCSV) infecting plants has been shown. Suppression of the host antiviral RNA interference (RNAi) pathway has b...

A recent study by Massirer et al. in the nematode C. elegans has shown that a family of microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-35-41, regulates the efficiency of RNA interference (RNAi), revealing a new connection between these small RNA pathways. In this commentary, we discuss the potential mechanisms for cross regulation in the miRNA and RNAi pathways and the implications for gene expression. While miRNAs a...

RNA interference (RNAi), the sequence-specific suppression of gene expression, offers great opportunities for insect science, especially to analyze gene function, manage pest populations, and reduce disease pathogens. The accumulating body of literature on insect RNAi has revealed that the efficiency of RNAi varies between different species, the mode of RNAi delivery, and the genes being target...

Human Adenovirus type 5 encodes two short RNA polymerase III transcripts, the virus-associated (VA) RNAI and VA RNAII, which can adopt stable hairpin structures that resemble micro-RNA precursors. The terminal stems of the VA RNAs are processed into small RNAs (mivaRNAs) that are incorporated into RISC. It has been reported that VA RNAI has two transcription initiation sites, which produce two ...

The discovery of environmental RNA interference (RNAi), in which gene expression is suppressed via feeding with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules, opened the door to the practical application of RNAi-based techniques in crop pest management. The western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) is one of the most devastating corn pests in North America. Interestingly, WCR displays...