Double-Stranded RNA Binding Protein, Staufen, Is Required for the Initiation of RNAi in Coleopteran Insects

Authors

June-Sun Yoon, University of KentuckyFollow
Kanakachari Mogilicherla, University of KentuckyFollow
Dhandapani Gurusamy, University of KentuckyFollow
Xien Chen, University of KentuckyFollow
Shankar C. R. R. Chereddy, University of KentuckyFollow
Subba R. Palli, University of KentuckyFollow

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is being used to develop methods to control pests and disease vectors. RNAi is robust and systemic in coleopteran insects but is quite variable in other insects. The determinants of efficient RNAi in coleopterans, as well as its potential mechanisms of resistance, are not known. RNAi screen identified a double-stranded RNA binding protein (StaufenC) as a major player in RNAi. StaufenC homologs have been identified in only coleopteran insects. Experiments in two coleopteran insects, Leptinotarsa decemlineata and Tribolium castaneum, showed the requirement of StaufenC for RNAi, especially for processing of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to small interfering RNA. RNAi-resistant cells were selected by exposing L. decemlineata, Lepd-SL1 cells to the inhibitor of apoptosis 1 dsRNA for multiple generations. The resistant cells showed lower levels of StaufenC expression compared with its expression in susceptible cells. These studies showed that coleopteran-specific StaufenC is required for RNAi and is a potential target for RNAi resistance. The data included in this article will help improve RNAi in noncoleopteran insects and manage RNAi resistance in coleopteran insects.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-14-2018

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, v. 115, no. 33, p. 8334-8339.

© 2018 the Author(s).

This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809381115

Funding Information

Research in the S.R.P. laboratory is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (GM070559-12 and 1R21AI131427-01), the National Science Foundation (Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers, the Center for Arthropod Management Technologies under Grant IIP-1338776), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture (under HATCH Project 2351177000).

Related Content

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1809381115/-/DCSupplemental. This is Publication 18-08-071 from the Kentucky Agricultural Experimental Station and is published with the approval of the director. Data deposition: The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank database (accession no. SRP150964).

Repository Citation

Yoon, June-Sun; Mogilicherla, Kanakachari; Gurusamy, Dhandapani; Chen, Xien; Chereddy, Shankar C. R. R.; and Palli, Subba R., "Double-Stranded RNA Binding Protein, Staufen, Is Required for the Initiation of RNAi in Coleopteran Insects" (2018). Entomology Faculty Publications. 148.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/entomology_facpub/148