Generation of Virus- and dsRNA-Derived siRNAs with Species-Dependent Length in Insects
Dulce Santos,
Lina Mingels,
Elise Vogel,
Luoluo Wang,
Olivier Christiaens,
Kaat Cappelle,
Niels Wynant,
Yannick Gansemans,
Filip Van Nieuwerburgh,
Guy Smagghe,
Luc Swevers,
Jozef Vanden Broeck
Affiliations
Dulce Santos
Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Lina Mingels
Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Elise Vogel
Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Luoluo Wang
Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Olivier Christiaens
Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Kaat Cappelle
Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Niels Wynant
Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Yannick Gansemans
Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Filip Van Nieuwerburgh
Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Guy Smagghe
Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Luc Swevers
Insect Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology Group, Institute of Biosciences and Applications, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, 15310 Athens, Greece
Jozef Vanden Broeck
Research Group of Molecular Developmental Physiology and Signal Transduction, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules of viral origin trigger a post-transcriptional gene-silencing mechanism called RNA interference (RNAi). Specifically, virally derived dsRNA is recognized and cleaved by the enzyme Dicer2 into short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which further direct sequence-specific RNA silencing, ultimately silencing replication of the virus. Notably, RNAi can also be artificially triggered by the delivery of gene-specific dsRNA, thereby leading to endogenous gene silencing. This is a widely used technology that holds great potential to contribute to novel pest control strategies. In this regard, research efforts have been set to find methods to efficiently trigger RNAi in the field. In this article, we demonstrate the generation of dsRNA- and/or virus-derived siRNAs—the main RNAi effectors—in six insect species belonging to five economically important orders (Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera). In addition, we describe that the siRNA length distribution is species-dependent. Taken together, our results reveal interspecies variability in the (antiviral) RNAi mechanism in insects and show promise to contribute to future research on (viral-based) RNAi-triggering mechanisms in this class of animals.
