RNA silencing in fungi: mechanisms and applications.
Two RNA silencing-related phenomena, quelling and meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD) have been identified in the fungus Neurospora crassa. Similar to the case with the siRNA and miRNA pathways in Drosophila, different sets of protein components including RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, argonaute and dicer, are used in the quelling and MSUD pathways. Orthologs of the RNA silencing components are found in most, but not all, fungal genomes currently available in the public databases, indicating that the majority of fungi possess the silencing machinery. Advantage and disadvantage of RNA silencing as a tool to explore gene function in fungi are discussed.
Nakayashiki
Hitoshi
H
Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Kobe University, 1-1, Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan. hnakaya@kobe-u.ac.jp
D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008540:Meiosis; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008954:Models, Biological; D009491:Neurospora; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D034622:RNA Interference; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000737:chemistry
D035683:MicroRNAs; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D004247:DNA; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase; D043244:Ribonuclease III