TY - JOUR
T1 - RNA interference mechanisms and applications in plant pathology
AU - Rosa, Cristina
AU - Kuo, Yen Wen
AU - Wuriyanghan, Hada
AU - Falk, Bryce W.
N1 - Funding Information:
The above examples demonstrate the power and potential of RNAi in plant pathology. Certainly, the amount of research and knowledge gained is impressive and continuing, and translational applications have already been demonstrated and the potential for more is high. RNAi offers great possibilities to grasp the intricacies of cell biology and to manipulate their mechanistic pathways. It has offered a glimpse of such opportunities by enabling the modification of gene expression of a plethora of organisms as well as of the microbes interacting with them, and we expect that RNAi will provide other new and exciting technologies that could be translated for crop protection. However, in spite of the demonstrated successes, commercialization and use of RNAi-based pathogen resistance in plants for practical disease control have not been as widely adopted as might be expected. The lack of commercialization and use for practical disease control is likely due to both the costs associated with regulatory approvals and public perception. Estimates suggest that it costs $130–$140 million to bring a transgenic crop to commercialization (53), and even when RNAi-based resistant plants are available, the lack of public acceptance due to lack of knowledge of the science involved in this technology leads to anti-GMO responses. Nevertheless, efforts are proceeding for commercialization, particularly for RNAi-based technologies against insect pests. Recently, maize engineered to kill the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) via RNAi was approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, and United States Department of Agriculture (35). This maize is called SmartStax Pro and is engineered to express a dsRNA fragment corresponding to the D. virgifera virgifera Snf7 mRNA and could be widely planted in the United States.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/8/25
Y1 - 2018/8/25
N2 - The origin of RNA interference (RNAi), the cell sentinel system widely shared among eukaryotes that recognizes RNAs and specifically degrades or prevents their translation in cells, is suggested to predate the last eukaryote common ancestor (138). Of particular relevance to plant pathology is that in plants, but also in some fungi, insects, and lower eukaryotes, RNAi is a primary and effective antiviral defense, and recent studies have revealed that small RNAs (sRNAs) involved in RNAi play important roles in other plant diseases, including those caused by cellular plant pathogens. Because of this, and because RNAi can be manipulated to interfere with the expression of endogenous genes in an intra- or interspecific manner, RNAi has been used as a tool in studies of gene function but also for plant protection. Here, we review the discovery of RNAi, canonical mechanisms, experimental and translational applications, and new RNA-based technologies of importance to plant pathology.
AB - The origin of RNA interference (RNAi), the cell sentinel system widely shared among eukaryotes that recognizes RNAs and specifically degrades or prevents their translation in cells, is suggested to predate the last eukaryote common ancestor (138). Of particular relevance to plant pathology is that in plants, but also in some fungi, insects, and lower eukaryotes, RNAi is a primary and effective antiviral defense, and recent studies have revealed that small RNAs (sRNAs) involved in RNAi play important roles in other plant diseases, including those caused by cellular plant pathogens. Because of this, and because RNAi can be manipulated to interfere with the expression of endogenous genes in an intra- or interspecific manner, RNAi has been used as a tool in studies of gene function but also for plant protection. Here, we review the discovery of RNAi, canonical mechanisms, experimental and translational applications, and new RNA-based technologies of importance to plant pathology.
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U2 - 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080417-050044
DO - 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080417-050044
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29979927
AN - SCOPUS:85053018707
SN - 0066-4286
VL - 56
SP - 581
EP - 610
JO - Annual Review of Phytopathology
JF - Annual Review of Phytopathology
ER -