Host-induced silencing ofFusarium culmorumgenes protects wheat from infection

Abstract

HighlightWheat plants transiently or stably accumulating antisense or double-stranded RNA, which are directed against essential genes of the Fusarium head blight fungus F. culmorum, were more resistant against the disease.

Host‐induced gene silencing compromises Verticillium wilt in tomato and Arabidopsis

“…Reports on HIGS against fungal pathogen infections have accumulated over recent years (Andrade et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2016;Cheng et al, 2015;Ghag et al, 2014;Hu et al, 2015;Koch et al, 2013;Panwar et al, 2013;Yin et al, 2011Yin et al, , 2015Zhang et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2016). Among these reports, disease suppression was observed on silencing of various types of gene, including those that encode the biosynthesis of structural components, such as chitin and ergosterol, but also genes involved in developmental regulation, secondary metabolism and pathogenicity.…”

“…(Panwar et al, 2013;Yin et al, 2011Yin et al, , 2015Zhang et al, 2012), Fusarium spp. (Chen et al, 2016;Cheng et al, 2015;Ghag et al, 2014;Hu et al, 2015;Koch et al, 2013), Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Andrade et al, 2015) and Rhizoctonia solani , as well as by the oomycete pathogens Phytophthora infestans (Jahan et al, 2015;Sanju et al, 2015) and Bremia lactucae (Govindarajulu et al, 2015). Many of these pathogens make very intimate contact with host cells, potentially facilitating the occurrence of HIGS.…”

Movement of small RNAs in and between plants and fungi

“…Conceptually, HIGS involves generating small RNAs targeting a pathogen gene in the host plant, which results in the uptake of small RNAs and gene silencing in the invading pathogen. HIGS has been demonstrated in a number of diverse fungal pathosystems and provides a promising disease control alternative to chemical control (Nowara et al , ; Yin et al , ; Zhang et al , ; Panwar et al , ; Hu et al , ; Deising et al ., ; Song and Thomma, ; Zhang et al ., ; Zhou et al , ; Zhu et al ., ; Qi et al ., ). In addition, it also can be used as a tool to screen potentially crucial fungal genes without the need to produce knockout mutants, which is challenging in a number of pathogens (Yin et al , ).…”

RNA-based disease control as a complementary measure to fight Fusarium fungi through silencing of the azole target Cytochrome P450 Lanosterol C-14 α-Demethylase

“…A wide range of transgenic crops expressing dsRNAs that are subsequently processed into sRNAs targeting essential and/or pathogenicity genes are more resistant to viruses, viroids, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, and insects (Cai et al 2018). Several studies demonstrated that cereals can be protected from Fusarium species by expressing dsRNAs targeting essential fungal genes such as Chitin synthases, β-1,3-Glucan synthase, or the azole fungicide target Cytochrome P450 lanosterol C-14 α-demethylase (Koch et al 2013;Cheng et al 2015;Chen et al 2016). Moreover, banana could be protected from Fusarium wilt caused by the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.…”