New Insights on the Integrated Management of Plant Diseases by RNA Strategies: Mycoviruses and RNA Interference

Abstract

RNA-based strategies for plant disease management offer an attractive alternative to agrochemicals that negatively impact human and ecosystem health and lead to pathogen resistance. There has been recent interest in using mycoviruses for fungal disease control after it was discovered that some cause hypovirulence in fungal pathogens, which refers to a decline in the ability of a pathogen to cause disease. Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight, has set an ideal model of management through the release of hypovirulent strains. However, mycovirus-based management of plant diseases is still restricted by limited approaches to search for viruses causing hypovirulence and the lack of protocols allowing effective and systemic virus infection in pathogens. RNA interference (RNAi), the eukaryotic cell system that recognizes RNA sequences and specifically degrades them, represents a promising. RNA-based disease management method. The natural occurrence of cross-kingdom RNAi provides a basis for host-induced gene silencing, while the ability of most pathogens to uptake exogenous small RNAs enables the use of spray-induced gene silencing techniques. This review describes the mechanisms behind and the potential of two RNA-based strategies, mycoviruses and RNAi, for plant disease management. Successful applications are discussed, as well as the research gaps and limitations that remain to be addressed.

BioClay™ prolongs RNA interference‐mediated crop protection against Botrytis cinerea

“…The application concentration of dsRNA is certainly an important factor for both the efficacy and the economic cost of the product application (Bocos‐Asenjo et al, 2022). In these experiments, a 300 or 100 ng/μL concentration was used based on preliminary trials with different concentrations of dsRNA for the different Botrytis inoculations assays (data not shown) and previous studies carried out with BioClay (Mitter et al, 2017; Jain et al, 2022).…”

Extending the Host Range of Fusarium Poae Virus 1 from Fusarium poae to other Fusarium Species in the Field

“…In some cases, mycoviruses confer a hypovirulent phenotype, which reduces the growth rate of their host and/or reduces their virulence [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Mycovirus research has been stimulated by the idea that they could be an effective tool for biocontrol of fungal pathogens [ 33 ]. To properly weaponize mycoviruses as biocontrol agents, a better understanding of their basic biology, including transmission modes and molecular mechanisms of parasitism, is needed [ 29 ].…”

Spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) as a tool for the management of Pine Pitch Canker forest disease

“…Consequently, the shortage of current management practices has urged the development of alternative and innovative techniques for successfully managing forest pathogens. RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies are one of the novel and potential approaches for the control of forest pathogens and pests (Bocos-Asenjo et al, 2022;Lu et al, 2023).…”