title: A novel gonad-specific Argonaute 4 serves as a defense against transposons in the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon.
abstract: Argonaute is a key protein of the small-RNA guided gene regulation process. The Argonaute family is generally divided into two subfamilies; AGO and PIWI. In this study, a cDNA encoding a novel type of Argonaute (PmAgo4) in the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon was identified and characterized. PmAgo4 cDNA contained an open reading frame of 2433 nucleotides that can be translated into a deduced amino acid with the conserved PAZ and PIWI domains. PmAgo4 was phylogenetically clustered with the AGO subfamily while exhibited a gonad-specific expression pattern similar to that of proteins in the PIWI subfamily. The expression of PmAgo4 did not change significantly in response to either double-stranded RNA or yellow head virus injection suggesting that PmAgo4 may not be the main AGO proteins that play a role in dsRNA-mediated gene silencing or antiviral defense. Interestingly, PmAgo4 appeared to participate in the control of transposons since the activation of both DNA transposon and retrotransposon was detected in the testis of PmAgo4-knockdown shrimp. Our study thus provided the first evidence for an unusual type of the AGO proteins that was predominantly expressed in shrimp gonad and implication of its role in protecting the shrimp genome against an invasion of transposons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
authors.forename: Wantana
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Leebonoi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suchitraporn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sukthaworn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Phayathai, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
authors.forename: Sakol
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panyim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand. Electronic address: apinunt.udo@mahidol.ac.th.
authors.forename: Apinunt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Udomkit
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006066:Gonads / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D046828:Roniviridae / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Argonaute; Germline; Shrimp; Transposons; YHV