RNAi-Mediated Resistance to Viruses in Genetically Engineered Plants (original) (raw)
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RNA Interference: A Novel Technology for Virus Disease Management in Crop Plants
Madras Agricultural Journal, 2021
RNAs play a significant role in regulating gene expression and their principal areas have been exploited for the control of plant viruses by the discovery of RNA silencing mechanism. RNA silencing or RNA interference (RNAi) is an innovative mechanism that regulates and restricts the amount of transcripts either by suppressing transcription (TGS) or by the degradation of sequence-specific RNA. RNAi can be used effectively to study the role of genes in a variety of eukaryotic organisms by reverse genetics. The technology has been employed in several fields such as drug resistance, therapeutics, development of genetically modified animals for research and transgenic plants targeting plant viruses. In plants, small interfering RNAs (siRNA) are the characteristic of 21 to 22 bp long dsRNA, which has been recognized by the regulatory mechanism of RNAi and leads to the sequence-specific degradation of target mRNA. In addition to virus disease control, RNAi can also be used to control mycot...
Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 2019
Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful reverse genetics technology used to unravel the functions of genes. It uses viruses as vectors to carry targeted plant genes. The virus vector is used to induce RNA-mediated silencing of a gene or genes in the host plant. The process of silencing is triggered by dsRNA molecules, the mechanism is explained in this chapter. Over the years a large number of viruses have been modified for use as VIGS vectors and a list of these vectors is also included. As the name suggests, virus-induced gene silencing uses the host plant's natural defense mechanisms against viral infection to silence plant genes. VIGS is methodologically simple and is widely used to determine gene functions, including disease resistance, abiotic stress, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and signal transduction pathways. Here, we made an attempt to describe the basic underlying molecular mechanism of VIGS, the methodology and various experimental requirements, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.
RNA-Based Technologies for Engineering Plant Virus Resistance
Plants
In recent years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have gained unprecedented attention as new and crucial players in the regulation of numerous cellular processes and disease responses. In this review, we describe how diverse ncRNAs, including both small RNAs and long ncRNAs, may be used to engineer resistance against plant viruses. We discuss how double-stranded RNAs and small RNAs, such as artificial microRNAs and trans-acting small interfering RNAs, either produced in transgenic plants or delivered exogenously to non-transgenic plants, may constitute powerful RNA interference (RNAi)-based technology that can be exploited to control plant viruses. Additionally, we describe how RNA guided CRISPR-CAS gene-editing systems have been deployed to inhibit plant virus infections, and we provide a comparative analysis of RNAi approaches and CRISPR-Cas technology. The two main strategies for engineering virus resistance are also discussed, including direct targeting of viral DNA or RNA, or inactivat...
Advances, Challenges and Prospects in Small RNA Mediated Approaches of Virus Resistance in Plants
Journal of Genomes and Exomes, 2013
RNA interference (RNAi) is a mechanism of small RNA-guided regulation of gene expression in which small RNAs inhibit the expression of genes with complementary nucleotide sequences. RNAi has emerged as a powerful modality for battling challenging viruses and provides a natural defense against viral pathogens. In plants, RNAi has been successfully used to express cognate dsRNAs for viral transcripts in order to initiate the process of viral gene silencing. Despite the wide applicability of RNAi for achieving viral resistance, there are some challenges and constraints that must to be addressed to develop RNAi as a more effective tool for virus resistance. The present review provides an update on different approaches of using RNAi for virus resistance development in various crop plants. The factors influencing RNAi-mediated virus resistance and the major constraints are also discussed in detail.
Antiviral strategies in plants based on RNA silencing
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms, 2011
One of the challenges being faced in the twenty-first century is the biological control of plant viral infections. Among the different strategies to combat virus infections, those based on pathogen-derived resistance (PDR) are probably the most powerful approaches to confer virus resistance in plants. The application of the PDR concept not only revealed the existence of a previously unknown sequence-specific RNA-degradation mechanism in plants, but has also helped to design antiviral strategies to engineer viral resistant plants in the last 25 years. In this article, we review the different platforms related to RNA silencing that have been developed during this time to obtain plants resistant to viruses and illustrate examples of current applications of RNA silencing to protect crop plants against viral diseases of agronomic relevance. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: MicroRNAs in viral gene regulation. Published by Elsevier B.V. j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / b b a g r m
Biotechnology and Plant Disease Control-Role of RNA Interference
American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2010
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.
Biotechnology and Plant Disease Control-Role of RNA Interference Open Access
AJPS, 2010
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.
Strategies for Viral Disease Resistance in Crop Plants
Most crop plant species are susceptible to a number of different viruses, some of which may cause severe systemic infection resulting in significant crop losses. Hence a major preoccupation of both breeders and growers alike has been the development of strategies (pathogen-derived resistance) that protect against infection. Traditional approaches for managing plant virus diseases include avoiding virus-infected material, chemical control of arthropod vectors and, when available, use of virus-resistance in cultivated crops. However, all of these are labour intensive and chemical control of insect vectors is becoming more expensive with potential undesirable side effects, including environmental hazards and the generation of insecticide resistance in vector populations and those of other insect pests. The observation of cross protection, wherein the inoculation of mild virus strains on plants provided protection from more severe strains, suggested that alternative approaches were possible. Transgenic technology opened up environmentally friendly options to engineer plants for resistance to viruses. This includes both protein and RNA-based approaches. One of the earliest approaches through transgenic technology to combat the viruses was the coat protein-mediated resistance. In the recent years, many RNA-based approaches that involve silencing of the viral proteins are in vogue. This involves both the artificial miRNA and siRNA based approaches. This overview is an update on the different strategies used to improve crops against viral diseases. In addition, we would also focus on novel strategies that utilize the multigene concept for virus control which forms the highlight of this review.