Leishmania braziliensis siRNA sequencing. Leishmania braziliensis strain:M2903

Among trypanosomatid protozoa the mechanism of RNA interference (RNAi) has been investigated in Trypanosoma brucei and to a lesser extent in Leishmania braziliensis. Although these two parasitic organisms belong to the same family, they are evolutionarily distantly related raising questions about the conservation of the RNAi pathway. We carried out an in-depth analysis of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) associated with L. braziliensis Argonaute1 (AGO1). Our results indicate that organism-specific diversification has occurred in the RNAi pathway during evolution of the trypanosomatid lineage.