Eyal Maori

• PhD
• University of Cambridge

Gene editing may be used to excise the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) provirus from the host cell genome, possibly eradicating the infection. Here, using cells acutely or latently infected by HIV-1 and treated with long terminal repeat-targeting CRISPR/Cas9, we show that the excised HIV-1 provirus persists for a few weeks and may rearr...

Gene editing may be used to cut out the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) provirus from the host cell genome and eradicate infection. Here, using cells acutely or latently infected by HIV and treated with long terminal repeat-targeting CRISPR/Cas9, we show that the excised HIV provirus persists for a few weeks and, by means of HIV Integra...

Systemic RNAi, initiated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) ingestion, has been reported in diverse invertebrates, including honey bees, demonstrating environmental RNA uptake that undermines homologous gene expression. However, the question why any organism would take up RNA from the environment has remained largely unanswered. Here, we report on hori...

RNA flow between organisms has been documented within and among different kingdoms of life. Recently, we demonstrated horizontal RNA transfer between honeybees involving secretion and ingestion of worker and royal jellies. However, how the jelly facilitates transfer of RNA is still unknown. Here, we show that worker and royal jellies harbor robust...

One of the characteristics of RNA interference (RNAi) is systemic spread of the silencing signal among cells and tissues throughout the organism. Systemic RNAi, initiated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) ingestion, has been reported in diverse invertebrates, including honey bees, demonstrating environmental RNA uptake that undermines homologous gene...

Background: Mosquitoes host and pass on to humans a variety of disease-causing pathogens such as infectious viruses and other parasitic microorganisms. The emergence and spread of insecticide resistance is threatening the effectiveness of current control measures for common mosquito vector borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue and Zika. Therefor...

The IL-60 platform, consisting of a disarmed form of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and auxiliary components, was previously developed as a nontransgenic universal vector system for gene expression and silencing that can express an entire operon in plants. IL-60 does not allow rolling-circle replication; hence, production of viral single-str...

DsRNA stability in the hive. RT-PCR analysis of dsRNA-GFP stability in 50% sucrose solution under hive conditions. The solution was introduced to bees. Numbers represent days from the time of dsRNA-GFP introduction. SM = size markers. (TIF)

An example of probe determination for pre-selected genes. A. Example sequences of mRNA for α tubulin of mites and insects were aligned, a conservative region was selected and a probe for selecting the homologous Varroa gene was determined. B. The determined sequence of the selected α tubulin probe based on the alignment of the known insect and mite...

DsRNA-GFP sequence used as reporter sequence and Varroa dsRNA sequences for Varroa gene silencing. (DOC)

List of primers for dsRNA preparation. Bold letters indicate sequences of T7 promoters. Amplicon sizes excluded T7 promoter sequences. * Designation of Varroa sequences as per Table S1. (DOC)

List of primers and probes used for real-time, semi-quantitative RT-PCR assays and Northern blot assay. * Designation of Varroa sequences as per Table S1. (DOC)

An example of determining whether a selected Varroa sequence may potentially off-target bee or human gene. Blast analysis indicated that no homology longer than 19 bases was found between this Varroa sequence and any bee or human sequence. An example of the longest found homology (sequence 12 of Table S1) is presented. (DOC)

Author Summary Acquisition of RNAi components (dsRNA, siRNA) by ingestion and their spread within the recipient organism has been previously reported by us and others. Here we extend such observations, demonstrating cross-species horizontal transmission of dsRNA which, upon transmission from one organism to another still retains its biological acti...

Multigene expression is required for metabolic engineering, i.e. coregulated expression of all genes in a metabolic pathway for the production of a desired secondary metabolite. To that end, several transgenic approaches have been attempted with limited success. Better success has been achieved by transforming plastids with operons. IL-60 is a plat...

Bee hives, feeding unit and field set up. (0.43 MB PDF)

Detection of siRNAs in bee samples. (0.99 MB PDF)

The importance of honey bees to the world economy far surpasses their contribution in terms of honey production; they are responsible for up to 30% of the world's food production through pollination of crops. Since fall 2006, honey bees in the U.S. have faced a serious population decline, due in part to a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder...

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been associated with Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV). CCD poses a serious threat to apiculture and agriculture as a whole, due to the consequent inability to provide the necessary amount of bees for pollination of critical crops. Here we report on RNAi-silencing of IAPV infection by feeding bees with double-s...

We report the isolation, purification, genome-sequencing and characterization of a picorna-like virus from dead bees in Israel. Sequence analysis indicated that IAPV (Israeli acute paralysis virus) is a distinct dicistrovirus. It is most homologous to Kashmir bee virus and acute bee paralysis virus. The virus carries a 9487 nt RNA genome in positiv...

Divergence among individuals of the same species may be linked to positional retrotransposition into different loci in different individuals. Here we add to recent reports indicating that individual variance occurs due to the integration of non-retroviral (potyviral) RNAs into the host genome via RNA recombination followed by retrotransposition. We...