Effective gene silencing in a microsporidian parasite associated with honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony declines.

ABSTRACT: Honeybee colonies are vulnerable to parasites and pathogens ranging from viruses to vertebrates. An increasingly prevalent disease of managed honeybees is caused by the microsporidian Nosema ceranae. Microsporidia are basal fungi and obligate parasites with much-reduced genomic and cellular components. A recent genome-sequencing effort for N. ceranae indicated the presence of machinery for RNA silencing in this species, suggesting that RNA interference (RNAi) might be exploited to regulate Nosema gene expression within bee hosts. Here we used controlled laboratory experiments to show that double-stranded RNA homologous to specific N. ceranae ADP/ATP transporter genes can specifically and differentially silence transcripts encoding these proteins. This inhibition also affects Nosema levels

SUBMITTER: Paldi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2935068 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature