Making a better RNAi vector for Drosophila: Use of intron spacers

Young Sik Lee, Richard W. Carthew

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

309 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Double-stranded RNA induces sequence-specific inhibition of gene expression at a posttranscriptional level in eukaryotes (RNAi). This natural phenomenon has been developed into a tool for studying gene function in several model organisms, including Drosophila melanogaster. Transgenes bearing inverted repeats are able to exert an RNAi effect in Drosophila, but cloning difficulties and inconsistent silencing complicate the method. We have constructed a transgene containing inverted repeats separated by a functional intron such that mRNA produced by the transgene is predicted to form loopless hairpin RNA following splicing. A single copy of the transgene effectively and uniformly silences expression of a target gene (white) in transgenic flies. We have developed a vector that is designed to produce intron-spliced hairpin RNA corresponding to any Drosophila gene. The vector is under control of the upstream activating sequence (UAS) of the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4. The UAS/GAL4 system allows hairpin RNA to conditionally silence gene expression in Drosophila in a tissue-specific manner. Moreover, the presence of the intron spacer greatly enhances the stability of inverted-repeat sequences in bacteria, facilitating the cloning procedure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)322-329
Number of pages8
JournalMethods
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2003 Aug 1
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

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