Genes misregulated in C. elegans deficient in Dicer, RDE-4, or RDE-1 are enriched for innate immunity genes.

ABSTRACT: We describe the first microarray analysis of a whole animal containing a mutation in the Dicer gene. We used adult Caenorhabditis elegans and, to distinguish among different roles of Dicer, we also performed microarray analyses of animals with mutations in rde-4 and rde-1, which are involved in silencing by siRNA, but not miRNA. Surprisingly, we find that the X chromosome is greatly enriched for genes regulated by Dicer. Comparison of all three microarray data sets indicates the majority of Dicer-regulated genes are not dependent on RDE-4 or RDE-1, including the X-linked genes. However, all three data sets are enriched in genes important for innate immunity and, specifically, show increased expression of innate immunity genes.

SUBMITTER: Welker NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1894926 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature