Abstract
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) inhibits expression of homologous genes by a process involving messenger RNA degradation. To gain insight into the mechanism of degradation, we examined how RNA interference is affected by mutations in the smg genes, which are required for nonsense-mediated decay. For three of six smg genes tested, mutations resulted in animals that were initially silenced by dsRNA but then recovered; wild-type animals remained silenced. The levels of target messenger RNAs were restored during recovery, and RNA editing and degradation of the dsRNA were identical to those of the wild type. We suggest that persistence of RNA interference relies on a subset of smg genes.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Adenosine Deaminase / metabolism
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Alleles
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Animals
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Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics
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Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins*
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Gene Silencing
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Helminth Proteins / genetics
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Helminth Proteins / metabolism*
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Mutation
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Myosin Heavy Chains / genetics
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Myosin Heavy Chains / metabolism
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Nonmuscle Myosin Type IIB
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Phosphoproteins / genetics
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Phosphoproteins / metabolism*
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RNA Stability
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RNA, Double-Stranded / metabolism
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RNA, Double-Stranded / pharmacology
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RNA, Helminth / metabolism*
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Substances
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Helminth Proteins
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Phosphoproteins
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RNA, Double-Stranded
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RNA, Helminth
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SMG-2 protein, C elegans
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Adenosine Deaminase
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Nonmuscle Myosin Type IIB
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nonmuscle myosin type IIB heavy chain
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Myosin Heavy Chains