Countering Counter-Defense to Antiviral RNAi

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful host defense mechanism against viruses. As a counter-defense, many viruses encode suppressors of RNAi, which - in plants - has provoked counter-counter-defense strategies. Recently, a mechanism was proposed in Drosophila (Zhang et al.) wherein a long noncoding RNA senses a virus-encoded RNAi suppressor to activate an innate immune response.

Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; RNA silencing; RNA virus; insect immunity; long noncoding RNA.