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Published on: October 4, 2024
Biochemical characterization of Bombyx mori Dicer-2 that dices double-stranded RNAs into 20-nt small RNA
Midori Tabara1, Mayuko Harada2, Kazunori Kuriyama3
1Ritsumeikan-Global Innovation Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
Abstract:
We detected enzymatic activity that generates 20-nucleotide (nt) RNA from double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) in crude extracts prepared from various silkworm (Bombyx mori) organs. The result using knocked-down cultured cells indicated that this dicing activity originated from B. mori Dicer-2 (BmDcr2). Biochemical analyses revealed that BmDcr2 preferentially cleaves 5'-phosphorylated dsRNAs at the 20-nt site-counted from the 5'-phosphorylated end-and required ATP and magnesium ions for the dicing reaction. This is the first report of the biochemical characterization of Dicer-2 in lepidopteran insects. This enzymatic property of BmDcr2 in vitro is consistent with the in vivo small interfering RNA profile in virus-infected silkworm cells.
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