Host‐induced gene silencing inhibits the biotrophic pathogen causing downy mildew of lettuce. Issue 7 (9th December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Govindarajulu, Manjula; Epstein, Lynn; Wroblewski, Tadeusz; Michelmore, Richard W.
• Is Part Of: Plant biotechnology journal. Volume 13:Issue 7(2015:Sep.)
• Page Start: 875
• Page End: 883
• Publication Date: 2014-12-09
• Subjects: Plant biotechnology -- Periodicals; Plant genetic engineering -- Periodicals; 630.272
• DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12307
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-7644

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="pbi12307-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Host‐induced gene silencing (HIGS) is an RNA interference‐based approach in which small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are produced in the host plant and subsequently move into the pathogen to silence pathogen genes. As a proof‐of‐concept, we generated stable transgenic lettuce plants expressing siRNAs targeting potentially vital genes of <italic>Bremia lactucae</italic>, a biotrophic oomycete that causes downy mildew, the most important disease of lettuce worldwide. Transgenic plants, expressing inverted repeats of fragments of either the <italic>Highly Abundant Message #34</italic> (<italic>HAM34)</italic> or <italic>Cellulose Synthase</italic> (<italic>CES1</italic>) genes of <italic>B. lactucae</italic>, specifically suppressed expression of these genes, resulting in greatly reduced growth and inhibition of sporulation of <italic>B. lactucae</italic>. This demonstrates that HIGS can provide effective control of <italic>B. lactucae</italic> in lettuce; such control does not rely on ephemeral resistance conferred by major resistance genes and therefore offers new opportunities for durable control of diverse diseases in numerous crops.</p> </abstract>