title: Dicer is required for chromosome segregation and gene silencing in fission yeast cells.
abstract: RNA interference is a form of gene silencing in which the nuclease Dicer cleaves double-stranded RNA into small interfering RNAs. Here we report a role for Dicer in chromosome segregation of fission yeast. Deletion of the Dicer (dcr1+) gene caused slow growth, sensitivity to thiabendazole, lagging chromosomes during anaphase, and abrogated silencing of centromeric repeats. As Dicer in other species, Dcr1p degraded double-stranded RNA into approximately 23 nucleotide fragments in vitro, and dcr1Delta cells were partially rescued by expression of human Dicer, indicating evolutionarily conserved functions. Expression profiling demonstrated that dcr1+ was required for silencing of two genes containing a conserved motif.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Division of Physiological Chemistry II, Karolinska Institute, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden Europe.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Provost
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Silverstein
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dishart
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walfridsson
authors.forename: Ingela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Djupedal
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kniola
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Samuelsson
authors.forename: Olof
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Radmark
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ekwall
mesh_terms: D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000235:genetics*; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006801:Humans; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043244:Ribonuclease III