BIOL 200 Lecture 30: New Tricks for an Old Molecule
Document Summary
Rna interference: tiny double-stranded rna does gene silencing dsrna (double-stranded rna) injected into c. elegans causes systemic loss of function phenotypes that correspond to the injected gene. This phenomenon is highly conserved (not unique to worms) dsrna doesn"t have 5" cap nor poly-a. The animal"s rna is sensitive to the double-stranded rna that you introduce into the cell. In drosophila, red eye = wild type, white = mutant. You could introduce dsrna by transgenes, or through transfection of modified sirnas, to cause loss of function phenotypes. This would cause a mutant genotype in the targeted gene. The dsrna should correspond to the mrna that"s made in the targeted gene dsrna works post-transcriptionally to knock out gene. The entire gene family can be silenced, depends on region of dsrna chosen. Systemic effect in c. elegans: dsrna injected into gonad, but affects. Rna interference probably evolved to protect cell against rna viruses; or, protects cell against excessive movement of transposonsd.
