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Comment
. 2017 Jan;25(1):4-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2016.11.011. Epub 2016 Dec 4.

Spray-Induced Gene Silencing: a Powerful Innovative Strategy for Crop Protection

Ming Wang  1 , Hailing Jin  2
Affiliations
Comment

Spray-Induced Gene Silencing: a Powerful Innovative Strategy for Crop Protection

Ming Wang et al. Trends Microbiol. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Plant pathogens cause serious crop losses worldwide. Recent new studies demonstrate that spraying double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and small RNAs (sRNAs) that target essential pathogen genes on plant surfaces confer efficient crop protection. This so-called spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) strategy of disease control is potentially sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Keywords: RNA interference (RNAi); RNA-based fungicide; Spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS); small RNAs.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Two Possible Pathways of Silencing Fungal Genes Induced by dsRNA- and sRNA- Sprayed Plant Surfaces
Pathway one: the external dsRNAs and sRNAs are taken up by the plant cells and then transferred into fungal cells (I). These dsRNAs are cleaved into sRNAs by either the plant DCL proteins or fungal DCL proteins. At the same time, the transferred dsRNAs and sRNAs in the plant cells also systemically spread and are transferred into fungal cells. The systemically spread dsRNAs are processed into sRNAs mainly by the fungal DCL protein. Pathway two: the external dsRNAs and sRNAs are directly taken up by the fungal cells (II), and the transferred dsRNAs are processed into sRNAs by the fungal DCL proteins.
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References

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