A genomewide screen for components of the RNAi pathway in Drosophila cultured cells

Posttranscriptional silencing by RNAi is initiated by dsRNAs that are processed into siRNAs that ultimately target homologous mRNAs for degradation. We used luciferase reporter constructs and a cultured cell-based assay to perform a genomewide screen for components of the RNAi pathway in Drosophila melanogaster. The screen identified seven genes that affect the RNAi response, five with previously described function (AGO2, Tis11, HSC70-3, Hsc70-4, and hdc) and two annotated genes (CG17265 and CG10883).