Template corresponds to nucleotides 171-531 and 171-732 of the Femcoat coding region in reverse orientations, producing a double stranded hairpin RNA. Driven by Hsp70.
When induced by heatshock in egg chambers, a distinct defect is seen in endochorion formation. Although a small portion of membrane appears to have a wild-type structure, most regions of the membrane show severe abnormalities in chorion formation. In particular pillas are incomplete and appear very sparsely. In addition to defects in the endochorion formation, exochorion fibril structure is often missing. Vitelline membrane formation is not affected.
dsRNA is expressed in vivo to study the phenotypic consequences of dsRNA interference (RNAi) of the Femcoat gene.