Abstract
Development of crop varieties which are resistant against many economically important diseases is a major challenge for plant biotechnologists worldwide. Although much progress in this area has been achieved through classical genetic approaches, this goal can be achieved in a more selective and robust manner with the success of genetic engineering techniques. In this regard, RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a powerful modality for battling some of the most notoriously challenging diseases caused by viruses, fungi and bacteria. RNAi is a mechanism for RNA-guided regulation of gene expression in which double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) inhibits the expression of genes with complementary nucleotide sequences. The application of tissue-specific or inducible gene silencing in combination with the use of appropriate promoters to silence several genes simultaneously will result in protection of crops against destructive pathogens. RNAi application has resulted in successful control of many economically important diseases in plants.
Highlights
Plant diseases are a threat to world agriculture
RNA interference (RNAi) mediated silencing of geminiviruses using transient protoplast assay where protoplasts were co-transferred with a siRNA designed to replicase (Rep)-coding sequence of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) and the genomic DNA of ACMV resulted in 99% reduction in Rep transcripts and 66% reduction in viral DNA [85]
Tissue or organ-specific RNAi vectors have already been proven to be useful for targeted gene silencing in specific plant tissues and organs with minimal interference with the normal plant life cycle
Summary
Plant diseases are a threat to world agriculture. Significant yield losses due to the attack of pathogen occur in most of the agricultural and horticultural crop species. Targets homologous mRNAs for degradation or inhibiting its transcription or translation [7,8], whereby susceptible genes can be silenced This RNA-mediated gene control technology has provided new platforms for developing eco-friendly molecular tools for crop improvement by suppressing the specific genes which are responsible for various stresses and improving novel traits in plants including disease resistance. It has emerged as a method of choice for gene targeting in fungi [9], viruses [10,11], bacteria [12] and plants [13] as it allows the study of the function of hundreds of thousands of genes to be tested [14]. The extent of cell-to-cell movement is dependent on the levels of siRNAs produced at the site of silencing initiation, but is independent of the presence of siRNA target transcripts in either source or recipient cells [34]
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