DRP006777
small RNA sequence of BmAgo2 or Siwi depleted BmN4 cells
To determine which small RNA pathway mainly contributes to silencing of BmMLV RNA during persistent infection, we utilized the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate Ago2 or Siwi knockout (KO) BmN-4 cells. We confirmed that 58% and 50% of the alleles contained the loss-of-function mutations in Ago2 and Siwi KO cells, respectively. The amounts of piRNAs decreased markedly in Siwi-mutated cells, but transcriptional derepression of transposable elements was not observed.