title: Inhibition of krr1 gene expression in Giardia canis by a virus-mediated hammerhead ribozyme.
abstract: Giardia, a most primitive eukaryote, infects several species including human and it is a major agent of waterborne outbreak of diarrhea. It has been difficult to employ standard genetic methods in the study of Giardia, but the RNA virus-based transfection system has been developed and used for the genetic manipulation. KRR1 protein is responsible for ribosome biosynthesis in Giardia. In this study, cDNA encoding hammerhead ribozyme flanked with various lengths of antisense Krr1 RNA were cloned into a viral vector pGCV634/GFP/GCV2174 derived from the genome of Giardia canis virus (GCV). RNA transcripts of the plasmids showed high cleavage activities on Krr1 mRNA in vitro. They were electroporated into GCV-infected G. canis trophozoites and Krr1 mRNA level was decreased by 72% with the ribozyme KRzS and 86% with the ribozyme KRzL, while the control ribozyme TRzS showed no effect on the level of Krr1 mRNA. The two hammerhead ribozyme transfected cells grew slowly, their internal structures got blurred and the cells were deformed. These results indicated that GCV could be useful tool for gene manipulation of G. canis.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Lifeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xichen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jigang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Longquan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yueping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D005872:Giardia / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D019198:Giardiavirus / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins