Parental RNAi in Tribolium (Coleoptera)

RNA interference (RNAi) allows for rapid and straightforward analysis of gene function. RNAi can be applied with special ease in Caenorhabditis elegans where injection of dsRNA into the body cavity or application of dsRNA via ingestion leads to gene inactivation in offspring embryos [1,2]. This parental RNAi effect made possible efficient genome-wide functional screens in this organism [3]. Here we show for the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum that injection of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) into the mother's haemocoel results in knock down of zygotic genes in offspring embryos (‘parental RNAi’).