title: Molecular characterization and gene functional analysis of Dicer-2 gene from Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Geometroidea).
abstract: Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Geometroidea), a serious rice pest in many countries of Asia, causes a great loss in rice production every year. RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful technology for gene function study in insects and a potential tool for pest control. As a core component of RNAi pathway, Dicer-2 (Dcr-2) protein determines the production of small interfering RNA (siRNA) and is crucial for the efficiency of RNAi. In this study, the full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) of N. lugens Dcr-2 (NlDcr-2) was first cloned and analyzed, and then the RNAi experiment was conducted to explore the function of NlDcr-2 gene. The complete Dcr-2 cDNA of N. lugens was 4 971 bp in length with an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,656 amino acids. Phylogenetic and protein domain analysis showed that the predicted NlDcr-2 protein was similar to Tribolium castaneum. In the RNAi experiment, the messenger RNA level of NlDcr-2 was significantly reduced by NlDcr-2 double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) (dsDcr-2). Fifty-five per cent decrease of NlDcr-2 was found after 4 days of unremitting feeding. No significant effect was observed on the development of N. lugens after dsRNA ingestion.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Biological Control and Institute of Entomology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Xiao-Yi
authors: XY
authors: Zhang
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Lu
authors: Jia-Liang
authors: JL
authors: Zhou
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D043244:Ribonuclease III
keywords: Dicer-2; Nilaparvata lugens; RNAi; clone; qRT-PCR