Kennerdell Jason R, Yamaguchi Shinji, Carthew Richard W
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Genes Dev. 2002 Aug 1;16(15):1884-9. doi: 10.1101/gad.990802.
Gene silencing by double-stranded RNA is a widespread phenomenon called RNAi, involving homology-dependent degradation of mRNAs. Here we show that RNAi is established in the Drosophila female germ line. mRNA transcripts are translationally quiescent at the arrested oocyte stage and are insensitive to RNAi. Upon oocyte maturation, transcripts that are translated become sensitive to degradation while untranslated transcripts remain resistant. Mutations in aubergine and spindle-E, members of the PIWI/PAZ and DE-H helicase gene families, respectively, block RNAi activation during egg maturation and perturb translation control during oogenesis, supporting a connection between gene silencing and translation in the oocyte.
双链RNA介导的基因沉默是一种广泛存在的现象,称为RNA干扰(RNAi),涉及mRNA的同源依赖性降解。我们在此表明,RNA干扰在果蝇雌性生殖系中得以确立。在停滞的卵母细胞阶段,mRNA转录本处于翻译静止状态,对RNA干扰不敏感。卵母细胞成熟后,已翻译的转录本变得易于降解,而未翻译的转录本仍具有抗性。分别属于PIWI/PAZ和DE-H解旋酶基因家族成员的茄子基因(aubergine)和纺锤体-E基因(spindle-E)发生突变,会阻断卵子成熟过程中的RNA干扰激活,并扰乱卵子发生过程中的翻译控制,这支持了卵母细胞中基因沉默与翻译之间的联系。