Establishment of a DFG-funded research group on the topic of plant-microbe communication through extracellular RNA

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Karl-Heinz Kogel
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Extracellular Rna ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The exRNA consortium, a team of researchers funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), addresses crucial aspects of cross-kingdom RNA interference (ckRNAi) and RNA application in plant protection, mainly focusing on mechanistic considerations and application efficiencies.

RNA Interference Mechanisms and Applications in Plant Pathology

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 581-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Rosa ◽  
Yen-Wen Kuo ◽  
Hada Wuriyanghan ◽  
Bryce W. Falk
Keyword(s):  
Plant Pathology ◽  
Rna Interference ◽  
Gene Function ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Antiviral Defense ◽  
Endogenous Genes

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.

scholarly journals Bacterium-Mediated RNA Interference: Potential Application in Plant Protection

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Goodfellow ◽  
Daai Zhang ◽  
Ming-Bo Wang ◽  
Ren Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Current State ◽  
Potential Applications

RNAi has emerged as a promising tool for targeting agricultural pests and pathogens and could provide an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional means of control. However, the deployment of this technology is still limited by a lack of suitable exogenous- or externally applied delivery mechanisms. Numerous means of overcoming this limitation are being explored. One such method, bacterium-mediated RNA interference, or bmRNAi, has been explored in other systems and shows great potential for application to agriculture. Here, we review the current state of bmRNAi, examine the technical limitations and possible improvements, and discuss its potential applications in crop protection.

The 'Trojan horse' approach for successful RNA interference in insects.

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kontogiannatos ◽  
Anna Kolliopoulou ◽  
Luc Swevers
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Insect Cells ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Rnai Efficiency ◽  
Insect Gut ◽  
Species Specific

Abstract Since the discovery of RNA interference in 1998 as a potent molecular tool for the selective downregulation of gene expression in almost all eukaryotes, increasing research is being performed in order to discover applications that are useful for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. The ease of use of double-stranded RNA for targeted in vivo gene silencing in animal cells and tissues gave birth to a massive interest from industry in order to discover biotechnological applications for human health and plant protection. For insects, RNAi became the 'Holy Grail' of pesticide manufacturing, because this technology is a promising species-specific environmentally friendly approach to killing natural enemies of cultured plants and farmed animals. The general idea to use RNAi as a pest-control agent originated with the realization that dsRNAs that target developmentally or physiologically important insect genes can cause lethal phenotypes as a result of the specific gene downregulation. Most importantly to achieve this, dsRNA is not required to be constitutively expressed via a transgene in the targeted insect but it can be administrated orally after direct spraying on the infested plants. Similarly, dsRNAs can be administered to pests after constitutive expression as a hairpin in plants or bacteria via stable transgenesis. Ideally, this technology could have already been applied in integrated pest management (IPM) if improvements were not essential in order to achieve higher insecticidal effects. There are many limitations that decrease RNAi efficiency in insects, which arise from the biochemical nature of the insect gut as well as from deficiencies in the RNAi core machinery, a common phenomenon mostly observed in lepidopteran species. To overcome these obstacles, new technologies should be assessed to ascertain that the dsRNA will be transferred intact, stable and in high amounts to the targeted insect cells. In this chapter we will review a wide range of recent discoveries that address the delivery issues of dsRNAs in insect cells, with a focus on the most prominent and efficient technologies. We will also review the upcoming and novel use of viral molecular components for the successful and efficient delivery of dsRNA to the insect cell.

scholarly journals The Role of Micrornas in Genome Response to Plant–Lepidoptera Interaction

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 529
Author(s):  
Katarína Ražná ◽  
Ľudovít Cagáň
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Host Resistance ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Double Stranded Rna ◽  
Rna Molecules

RNA interference is a known phenomenon of plant immune responses, involving the regulation of gene expression. The key components triggering the silencing of targeted sequences are double-stranded RNA molecules. The regulation of host–pathogen interactions is controlled by miRNA molecules, which regulate the expression of host resistance genes or the genes of the pathogen. The review focused on basic principles of RNA interference as a gene-silencing-based defense mechanism and the role of miRNA molecules in insect genomes. RNA interference as a tool for plant protection management is discussed. The review summarizes current miRNA-based biotechnology approaches for plant protection management.

scholarly journals Double-Stranded RNAs in Plant Protection Against Pathogenic Organisms and Viruses in Agriculture

Acta Naturae ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Y. Morozov ◽  
A. G. Solovyev ◽  
N. O. Kalinina ◽  
M. E. Taliansky
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Rna Interference ◽  
Transgenic Plants ◽  
Virulence Genes ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Pathogen Resistance ◽  
Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽  
Small Interfering Rnas ◽  
Pathogenic Viruses ◽  
Pathogenic Organisms

Recent studies have shown that plants are able to express the artificial genes responsible for the synthesis of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and hairpin double-stranded RNAs (hpRNAs), as well as uptake and process exogenous dsRNAs and hpRNAs to suppress the gene expression of plant pathogenic viruses, fungi, or insects. Both endogenous and exogenous dsRNAs are processed into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that can spread locally and systemically through the plant, enter pathogenic microorganisms, and induce RNA interference-mediated pathogen resistance in plants. There are numerous examples of the development of new biotechnological approaches to plant protection using transgenic plants and exogenous dsRNAs. This review summarizes new data on the use of transgenes and exogenous dsRNAs for the suppression of fungal and insect virulence genes, as well as viruses to increase the resistance of plants to these pathogens. We also analyzed the current ideas about the mechanisms of dsRNA processing and transport in plants.

The 'Trojan horse' approach for successful RNA interference in insects.

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kontogiannatos ◽  
Anna Kolliopoulou ◽  
Luc Swevers
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Insect Cells ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Rnai Efficiency ◽  
Insect Gut ◽  
Species Specific

Abstract Since the discovery of RNA interference in 1998 as a potent molecular tool for the selective downregulation of gene expression in almost all eukaryotes, increasing research is being performed in order to discover applications that are useful for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. The ease of use of double-stranded RNA for targeted in vivo gene silencing in animal cells and tissues gave birth to a massive interest from industry in order to discover biotechnological applications for human health and plant protection. For insects, RNAi became the 'Holy Grail' of pesticide manufacturing, because this technology is a promising species-specific environmentally friendly approach to killing natural enemies of cultured plants and farmed animals. The general idea to use RNAi as a pest-control agent originated with the realization that dsRNAs that target developmentally or physiologically important insect genes can cause lethal phenotypes as a result of the specific gene downregulation. Most importantly to achieve this, dsRNA is not required to be constitutively expressed via a transgene in the targeted insect but it can be administrated orally after direct spraying on the infested plants. Similarly, dsRNAs can be administered to pests after constitutive expression as a hairpin in plants or bacteria via stable transgenesis. Ideally, this technology could have already been applied in integrated pest management (IPM) if improvements were not essential in order to achieve higher insecticidal effects. There are many limitations that decrease RNAi efficiency in insects, which arise from the biochemical nature of the insect gut as well as from deficiencies in the RNAi core machinery, a common phenomenon mostly observed in lepidopteran species. To overcome these obstacles, new technologies should be assessed to ascertain that the dsRNA will be transferred intact, stable and in high amounts to the targeted insect cells. In this chapter we will review a wide range of recent discoveries that address the delivery issues of dsRNAs in insect cells, with a focus on the most prominent and efficient technologies. We will also review the upcoming and novel use of viral molecular components for the successful and efficient delivery of dsRNA to the insect cell.

scholarly journals RNAi technology for plant protection and its application in wheat

aBIOTECH ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoshuai Liu ◽  
Shuaifeng Geng ◽  
Aili Li ◽  
Yingbo Mao ◽  
Long Mao
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Target Mrnas ◽  
Rnai Technology ◽  
The World ◽  
Made In

AbstractThe RNAi technology takes advantage of the intrinsic RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism that exists in nearly all eukaryotes in which target mRNAs are degraded or functionally suppressed. Significant progress has been made in recent years where RNAi technology is applied to several crops and economic plants for protection against diseases like fungi, pests, and nematode. RNAi technology is also applied in controlling pathogen damages in wheat, one of the most important crops in the world. In this review, we first give a brief introduction of the RNAi technology and the underneath mechanism. We then review the recent progress of its utilization in crops, particular wheat. Finally, we discuss the existing challenges and prospect future development of this technology in crop protection.

scholarly journals Length-dependent accumulation of double-stranded RNAs in plastids affects RNA interference efficiency in the Colorado potato beetle

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 2670-2677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanwan He ◽  
Wenbo Xu ◽  
Letian Xu ◽  
Kaiyun Fu ◽  
Wenchao Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Colorado Potato Beetle ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Potato Plants ◽  
Potato Beetle ◽  
Rnai Response ◽  
Rnai Effect

Abstract Transplastomic potato plants expressing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeted against essential genes of the Colorado potato beetle (CPB) can be lethal to larvae by triggering an RNA interference (RNAi) response. High accumulation levels of dsRNAs in plastids are crucial to confer an efficient RNAi response in the insects. However, whether length and sequence of the dsRNA determine the efficacy of RNAi and/or influence the level of dsRNA accumulation in plastids is not known. We compared the RNAi efficacy of different lengths of dsRNA targeted against the CPB β-Actin gene (ACT) by feeding in vitro-synthesized dsRNAs to larvae. We showed that, while the 60 bp dsRNA induced only a relatively low RNAi response in CPB, dsRNAs of 200 bp and longer caused high mortality and similar larval growth retardation. When the dsRNAs were expressed from the plastid (chloroplast) genome of potato plants, we found that their accumulation were negatively correlated with length. The level of dsRNA accumulation was positively associated with the observed mortality, suppression of larval growth, and suppression of target gene expression. Importantly, transplastomic potato plants expressing the 200 bp dsRNA were better protected from CPB than plants expressing the 297 bp dsRNA, the best-performing line in our previous study. Our results suggest that the length of dsRNAs is an important factor that influences their accumulation in plastids and thus determines the strength of the insecticidal RNAi effect. Our findings will aid the design of optimized dsRNA expression constructs for plant protection by plastid-mediated RNAi.

scholarly journals Shaping future research agenda on Sustainability research within CARPE network

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erlijn Eweg ◽  
Martijn Rietbergen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Sustainability Research

Within the involved Higher Education Institutes of the CARPE network, many research groups are working on sustainability related topics. However, the expertise of these research group are not fully exploited if it comes to acquiring new opportunities for externally funded research projects. This proposed project aims at developing a research community among CARPE partners involved in sustainability research, to shape a joint future research agenda on sustainability research, and to acquire new funds effectively. We like to discuss how to develop a community that is better informed about eachothers activities and expertise, how we could strenghten the network on sustainability and explore if and how a commun research agenda could be valuable for us.

scholarly journals Application of small RNAs for plant protection

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-482
Author(s):  
Polina Ya. Tretiakova ◽  
Aleksandr A. Soloviev
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Plant Pathogen ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Resistant Varieties ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Plant Pathogen Interactions ◽  
Regulatory Functions

Double-stranded small RNAs (dsRNA) perform various regulatory functions via RNA-interference. Additionally, they can be transported between various plant species and their pathogens and pests via extracellular vesicles, protecting RNA from nucleases. Plants secrete short dsRNA molecules to defend themselves against pathogens. The latter also use small RNAs when infecting crops. Some dsRNAs of pathogens are known as ribonucleic effectors. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) was shown to be effective when breeding resistant varieties and analyzing plant-pathogen interactions. However, complexity of transgenesis and society fear of genetically modified products make HIGS application difficult. The appearance of a new strategy based on plant spraying with dsRNA gave a new perspective of plant protection. Currently such a strategy requires accurate studying as well as the development of efficient systems stably producing high-quality dsRNA.

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