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pubmed:abstractText |
RNA interference is a form of gene silencing in which the nuclease Dicer cleaves double-stranded RNA into small interfering RNAs. Here we report a role for Dicer in chromosome segregation of fission yeast. Deletion of the Dicer (dcr1+) gene caused slow growth, sensitivity to thiabendazole, lagging chromosomes during anaphase, and abrogated silencing of centromeric repeats. As Dicer in other species, Dcr1p degraded double-stranded RNA into approximately 23 nucleotide fragments in vitro, and dcr1Delta cells were partially rescued by expression of human Dicer, indicating evolutionarily conserved functions. Expression profiling demonstrated that dcr1+ was required for silencing of two genes containing a conserved motif.
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