Table 1.

Argonaute protein family functional groups

Protein Subfamily	Protein	Small RNA class, length	Putative Function (referenced mosquito studies)
Argonaute	Ago1	miRNA, 20–22 nts	Regulation of endogenous mRNAs during development; control of Plasmodium infection [15,54]
Argonaute	Ago2	siRNA, 20–22 nts	Anti-viral defense [1,25-27]
PIWI	Ago3 PIWI (Ago4) Aub (Ago5)	piRNA, rasiRNA, 24–30 nts	Germline surveillance, telomere maintenance, anti-viral defense [1], and maintenance of retrotransposon silencing