Dicer functions in aquatic species.
Dicer is an RNase III enzyme with two catalytic subunits, which catalyzes the cleavage of double-stranded RNA to small interfering RNAs and micro-RNAs, which are mainly involved in invasive nucleic acid defense and endogenous genes regulation. Dicer is abundantly expressed in embryos, indicating the importance of the protein in early embryonic development. In addition, Dicer is thought to be involved in defense mechanism against foreign nucleic acids such as viruses. This paper will mainly focus on the recent progress of Dicer-related research and discuss potential RNA interference pathways in aquatic species.
Department of Environmental Health Science, Nara Women's University, Kita-Uoya Nishimachi, Nara 630-8506, Japan.
Yasuko
Y
Kitagishi
Naoko
N
Okumura
Hitomi
H
Yoshida
Chika
C
Tateishi
Yuri
Y
Nishimura
Satoru
S
Matsuda