Project description:Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as a class of emerging regulators, play crucial role in regulating the strength and duration of innate immunity. However, little is known about how these Drosophila Imd immunity-related lncRNAs are regulated. Herein, we firstly revealed that overexpression of lncRNA-CR33942 could strengthen the expression of Imd pathway antimicrobial peptides Diptericin (Dpt) and Attacin-A (AttA) after infection, and vice versa. Secondly, RNA-seq analysis of post-infected lncRNA-CR33942-overexpressing flies further confirmed that lncRNA-CR33942 positively regulates the Drosophila Imd pathway. Mechanistically, we indicated that lncRNA-CR33942 interacts with NF-κB transcription factor Relish to promote its binding to Dpt and AttA promoters, thereby facilitating Dpt and AttA expression. Interestingly, we found that Relish can also directly promote lncRNA-CR33942 transcription by binding to its promoter. Finally, rescue experiments and dynamic expression profiling post-infection demonstrated the vital role of the Relish/lncRNA-CR33942/AMPs regulatory axis in enhancing inadequate Imd immune responses and maintaining immune homeostasis. Taken together, our study not only elucidates a novel mechanism about lncRNA in Drosophila Imd immune regulation, but also has important guiding significance for elucidating the complex regulatory mechanism of animal innate immune response.
Project description:To determine the modulation of gene expression of Leishmania mexicana(M379)-inoculated BALB/c ears in the presence of promastigote secretory gel (PSG) A genome-wide transcriptional analysis was performed by comparing the gene expression profiles of Leishmania mexicana- inoculated BALB/c ears and Leishmania mexicana plus PSG BALB/c ears. Leishmania mexicana amastigotes were purified from mouse cutaneous lesions and transformed in vitro in metacycic promastigotes (MT). After 6, 24 and 48 hours, ears were collected and processed for RNA extraction. Three Biological replicates per condition were run.
Project description:Meiotic drivers subvert Mendelian expectations by manipulating reproductive development to bias their own transmission. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, while gene drive is normally postmeiotic and typically found in males. Cryptic drive is thought to be pervasive and can be unleashed following hybridization with a naïve genome, resulting in sterility and hybrid incompatibility. Using single molecule and single pollen genome sequencing, we describe an instance of gene drive in hybrids between maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte mexicana (Zea mays ssp. mexicana), that depends on RNA interference (RNAi) in the male germline. Multiple hairpin-derived small RNA from mexicana target a novel domestication gene, Teosinte Drive Responder, that is required for pollen fertility and has undergone selection for immunity to RNAi. Introgression of mexicana into early cultivated maize is thought to have been critical to its geographical dispersal throughout the Americas. A survey of maize landraces and sympatric populations of teosinte mexicana reveals allelic bias at genes required for RNAi on at least 4 chromosomes that are also subject to gene drive in pollen from synthetic hybrids. Teosinte Pollen Drive likely played a major role in maize domestication, and offers an explanation for the widespread abundance of hairpin-encoded and other endogenous small RNA in the germlines of plants and animals.