Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) in Plants: An Overview of Target Species and the Virus-Derived Vector Systems

Abstract

The analysis of gene functions in non-model plant species is often hampered by the fact that stable genetic transformation to downregulate gene expression is laborious and time-consuming, or, for some species, even not achievable. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) can serve as an alternative to mutant collections or stable transgenic plants to allow the characterization of gene functions in a wide range of angiosperm species, albeit in a transient way. VIGS vector systems have been developed from both RNA and DNA plant viral sources to specifically silence target genes in plants. VIGS is nowadays widely used in plant genetics for gene knockdown due to its ease of use and the short time required to generating phenotypes. Here, we summarize successfully targeted eudicot and monocot plant species along with their specific VIGS vector systems which are already available for researchers.

Recent Advances in In Planta Transient Expression and Silencing Systems for Soybean Using Viral Vectors

“…Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) Vectors based on TRV, type member of the genus Tobravirus, have been used extensively for VIGS in a number of dicotyledons (Lange et al 2013), including one report of their use for VIGS in soybean (Jeong et al 2005). TRV has a bipartite genome, with the 6.8-kb RNA1 encoding proteins for replication, movement, and silencing suppressor activity, while the 3.9-kb RNA2 encodes the TRV CP.…”

“…These results suggest that TSV is promising as a viral vector for silencing genes in seed and in the next generation, but additional development and optimization are required of the system. TRV VIGS Despite its wide success for VIGS in many dicotyledons (Senthil-Kumar and Mysore 2011a; Lange et al 2013), TRV has only been used to silence soybean Pds in the cultivar "Somyung" (Jeong et al 2005). Three different inoculation methods were tested, but only an Agrobacterium drench (agrodrench) at the crown of the plant yielded infected plants.…”

“…We conclude by discussing potential future applications of viral vectors in soybean. For additional information on viral vectors that emphasize gene silencing, we refer the reader to these recent, excellent reviews for soybean and other legumes (Kasai and Kanazawa 2012;Pflieger et al 2013) or plants in general (Lange et al 2013). Detailed protocols for VIGS in several dicotyledons and monocotyledons are available in .…”

Characteristics and regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in pepper-review

“…A study targeting tomato miRNAs brought into light that miRNA858 regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis by modulating the expression of two R2R3-MYB transcription factors (Jia et al, 2015). Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) vector systems have been developed from both RNA and DNA plant viral sources to specifically silence target genes in plants (Lange et al, 2013). This VIGS technique has been employed successfully in silencing of the R2R3-MYB transcription factor in Capsicum spp.…”

Non-targeted effects of virus-induced gene silencing vectors on host endogenous gene expression

“…Reduction in the internal PDS mRNA level and activity leads to a decreased carotenoid level and ability to protect against photo bleaching, and as a consequence of efficient silencing, white leaves appear. As the host range of plant viruses varies, different VIGS vectors are used for different plant species [11,14,16,20] (Supplementary Table 1).…”