RNA interference (RNAi), was discovered and described by our group, in plants, in the late 1990s and has revolutionised plant and animal research. The technology gives researchers the ability to silence almost any gene, at will, and works by re-directing an intrinsic RNA-degrading mechanism that is present in almost all eukaryotic cells.
The main players in this pathway are the RNA-nucleases: Dicers and Argonautes. Humans have only one Dicer and a handful of Argonautes. Plants have at least 4 Dicers and 10 Argonautes which produce and utilise different size classes of small RNAs. One of these Dicers produces ~21nt microRNAs that regulate development, another two produce 21 and 22nt siRNAs to fight against viruses, and another produces 24nt siRNAs that regulate gene expression through chromatin modification.
Most recently, we are interested in investigating how, what and where miRNAs regulate developmental transitions using real time imaging. We are also interested in understanding a graft-transmissible silencing signal, virus proteins that repress the gene silencing pathway, epigenetic modifications, and a newly uncovered group of proteins that may be part of yet another dsRNA-mediated developmental pathway.
© 2002-09 The University of Sydney. Last updated: 04 March 2010
ABN: 15 211 513 464. CRICOS number: 00026A. Phone: +61 2 9351 2222.
Authorised by: Director, Unit title.
Contact the University | Disclaimer | Privacy | Accessibility
