Genes misregulated in C. elegans deficient in Dicer, RDE-4, or RDE-1 are enriched for innate immunity genes.
We describe the first microarray analysis of a whole animal containing a mutation in the Dicer gene. We used adult Caenorhabditis elegans and, to distinguish among different roles of Dicer, we also performed microarray analyses of animals with mutations in rde-4 and rde-1, which are involved in silencing by siRNA, but not miRNA. Surprisingly, we find that the X chromosome is greatly enriched for genes regulated by Dicer. Comparison of all three microarray data sets indicates the majority of Dicer-regulated genes are not dependent on RDE-4 or RDE-1, including the X-linked genes. However, all three data sets are enriched in genes important for innate immunity and, specifically, show increased expression of innate immunity genes.
Welker
Noah C
NC
Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Habig
Jeffrey W
JW
Bass
Brenda L
BL
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000737:chemistry
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; C461645:RDE-4 protein, C elegans; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C122185:rde-1 protein, C elegans; D043244:Ribonuclease III