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Updated: May 23, 2026

Application of RNA Interference in the Pinewood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus
Published on: March 9, 2022
The development of RNA interference (RNAi) in gastrointestinal nematodes
Murray E Selkirk1, Stanley C Huang, David P Knox
1Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ.
None:
Despite the utility of RNAi for defining gene function in Caenorhabditis elegans and early successes reported in parasitic nematodes, RNAi has proven to be stubbornly inconsistent or ineffective in the animal parasitic nematodes examined to date. Here, we summarise some of our experiences with RNAi in parasitic nematodes affecting animals and discuss the available data in the context of our own unpublished work, taking account of mode of delivery, larval activation, site of gene transcription and the presence/absence of essential RNAi pathway genes as defined by comparisons to C. elegans. We discuss future directions briefly including the evaluation of nanoparticles as a means to enhance delivery of interfering RNA to the target worm tissue.
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