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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 23.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Genet. 2007;41:305–330. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.41.110306.130216

Table 1.

Organisms that can transport silencing information across cell boundaries

Organism dsRNA delivered by Silencing occurs in
Animals
Free-living worm (Caenorhabditis) Injection into gut Gonad (35)
Environment Gonad (121)
Fed bacteria expressing transgene Body-wall muscles (127)
Transgene in pharynx Body-wall muscles (146)
Parasitic worms (Ascaris Brugia Haemonchus Litomosoides Nippostrongylus Onchocerca Ostertagia Schistosoma Trichostrongylus Globodera) Environment Skin (52)
Environment Unknown (52)
Environment Unknown (52)
Fed bacteria expressing transgene Unknown (52)
Environment Unknown (52)
Environment Neurons (52)
Environment Skin (52)
Environment Unknown (52)
Environment Gut (52)
Environment Unknown (52)
Fed bacteria expressing transgene Unknown (52)
Environment Neurons (58)
Planaria (Girardia Schmidtea) Injection into head cavity Eye (96)
Fed bacteria expressing transgene Entire animal (84)
Polyp (Hydra) Fed bacteria expressing transgene Entire animal (21)
Silkworm (Bombyx) Injection into hemocoel Midgut, silk glands (123)
Fruitfly (Drosophila) Intra-abdominal injection Neurons in the head (31)
Fleshfly (Sarcophaga) Injection into larval hemolymph Pupal hemocytes (86)
Mosquito (Aedes Anopheles) Injection into hemocoel Gut (11)
Thoracic injection Mid-gut, fat body (14)
Malaria parasite (Plasmodium) Surrounding medium Parasites within red-blood cells (77)
Beetle (Tribolium) Intra-abdominal injection of pupae Next generation (18)
Intra-abdominal injection of larvae Adult bristles (129)
Grasshopper (Schistocerca) Injection into heart vessel of larvae Developing eye (27)
Cricket (Gryllus) Intra-abdominal injection Next generation (82)
Locust (Locusta) Intra-abdominal injection Next generation (48)
Cockroach (Blatella Periplaneta) Intra-abdominal injection Ovariole (22)
Injection into cercus of larvae Neurons and skin (79)
Honey bee (Apis) Injection into hemolymph Insect fat body (6)
Tick (Amblyomma Ixodes) Injection into hemolymph Salivary gland (3)
Injection into hemolymph Salivary gland (120)
Feeding in droplet to larvae Salivary gland (117)
Milkweed bug (Oncopeltus) Intra-abdominal injection Next generation (72)
Wasp (Nasonia) Intra-abdominal injection Next generation (75)
Termite (Reticulitermes) Injection into side of the thorax Insect fat body (158)
Kissing bug (Rhodnius) Thoracic injection of larvae Salivary gland (8)
Moth (Spodoptera Manduca Epiphyas) Injection into hemocoel Midgut (97)
Intra-abdominal injection Insect fat body (33)
Fed droplets to larvae Antennae of adults (132)
Spider (Cupiennius Achaearanea) Injection into perivitelline space of embryo Developing appendages (111)
Injection into opisthosoma Next generation (1)
Mouse (Mus) Modified siRNA injection into tail-vein Liver, heart, kidney, adipose, and lung (118)
Plants
Tobacco (Nicotiana) Silenced rootstock Grafted scion (91)
Infected leaf Entire plant (139)
Sunflower (Helianthus) Silenced rootstock Grafted scion (49)
Leaf infiltrated with RNA from silenced plant New leaves above the infiltrated leaf (49)
Pumpkin, cucumber (Cucurbita, Cucumis) Silenced pumpkin rootstock Grafted cucumber scion (153)
Thale cress (Arabidopsis) Induced expression of transgene 2–3 upper leaves (44)
Legume (Medicago) A. rhizogenes-mediated root transformation Limited extent in nontransgenic shoot (70)
Fern (Ceratopteris) Transgene bombarded into 1 cell Entire gametophyte (107)