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Strategies for Efficient RNAi-Based Gene Silencing of Viral Genes for Disease Resistance in Plants

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Plant Gene Silencing

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2408))

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionarily conserved gene silencing mechanism in eukaryotes including fungi, plants, and animals. In plants, gene silencing regulates gene expression, provides genome stability, and protect against invading viruses. During plant virus interaction, viral genome derived siRNAs (vsiRNA) are produced to mediate gene silencing of viral genes to prevent virus multiplication. After the discovery of RNAi phenomenon in eukaryotes, it is used as a powerful tool to engineer plant viral disease resistance against both RNA and DNA viruses. Despite several successful reports on employing RNA silencing methods to engineer plant for viral disease resistance, only a few of them have reached the commercial stage owing to lack of complete protection against the intended virus. Based on the knowledge accumulated over the years on genetic engineering for viral disease resistance, there is scope for effective viral disease control through careful design of RNAi gene construct. The selection of target viral gene(s) for developing the hairpin RNAi (hp-RNAi) construct is very critical for effective protection against the viral disease. Different approaches and bioinformatics tools which can be employed for effective target selection are discussed. The selection of suitable target regions for RNAi vector construction can help to achieve a high level of transgenic virus resistance.

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Acknowledgments

Support from DBT-BIRAC, DBT-NER and ICAR-NPFGGM are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    Krish K. Kumar, Shanmugam Varanavasiappan, Loganathan Arul, Easwaran Kokiladevi & Duraialagaraja Sudhakar

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  1. Krish K. Kumar
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  2. Shanmugam Varanavasiappan
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  3. Loganathan Arul
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  4. Easwaran Kokiladevi
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  5. Duraialagaraja Sudhakar
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Correspondence to Shanmugam Varanavasiappan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Agricultural Biosciences, Oklahoma State University, Ardmore, OK, USA

    Kirankumar S. Mysore

  2. National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India

    Muthappa Senthil-Kumar

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Kumar, K.K., Varanavasiappan, S., Arul, L., Kokiladevi, E., Sudhakar, D. (2022). Strategies for Efficient RNAi-Based Gene Silencing of Viral Genes for Disease Resistance in Plants. In: Mysore, K.S., Senthil-Kumar, M. (eds) Plant Gene Silencing. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2408. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1875-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1875-2_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1874-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1875-2

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