Caenorhabditis elegans SID-2 is required for environmental RNA interference.
In plants and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, an RNAi signal can trigger gene silencing in cells distant from the site where silencing is initiated. In plants, this signal is known to be a form of dsRNA, and the signal is most likely a form of dsRNA in C. elegans as well. Furthermore, in C. elegans, dsRNA present in the environment or expressed in ingested bacteria is sufficient to trigger RNAi (environmental RNAi). Ingestion and soaking delivery of dsRNA has also been described for other invertebrates. Here we report the identification and characterization of SID-2, an intestinal luminal transmembrane protein required for environmental RNAi in C. elegans. SID-2, when expressed in the environmental RNAi defective species Caenorhabditis briggsae, confers environmental RNAi.
Winston
William M
WM
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Sutherlin
Marie
M
Wright
Amanda J
AJ
Feinberg
Evan H
EH
Hunter
Craig P
CP
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics; D018510:RNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019076:Transgenes
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D018510:RNA, Helminth; C521940:SID-2 protein, C elegans