October 10, 2011

Source: ISB News Report - October 2011
by Takumi Shimizu, Tamaki Uehara-Ichiki, and Toshihiro Omura

Exploitation of natural genetic sources of resistance is one of the most effective approaches to the protection of crop plants from viral infection. RNA silencing, known also as RNA interference (RNAi), is an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon that has been recognized in a wide variety of eukaryotic organisms. It provides a mechanism for suppressing gene expression at the RNA level. In the present report, we discuss the importance of the choice of appropriate viral genes as targets for effective RNAi in attempts to inhibit the viral infection of rice plants.

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Website: http://www.isb.vt.edu

Published: October 10, 2011