RNA interference-mediated resistance to maize dwarf mosaic virus

Journal: PLANT CELL TISS ORG 2013-06年 113卷 3期

Author: Zhi-Yong Zhang,Ying-Ge Wang,Xiao-Juan Shen,Lei Li, Shu-Feng Zhou, Wan-Chen Li, Feng-Ling Fu

Abstract:

Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) is a widespread pathogen that causes serious yield loss to maize crops. A hairpin RNA expression vector was constructed herein to overcome the low efficiency of cultural protection against MDMV and to improve the MDMV resistance mediated by a shorter transgenic inverted-repeat sequence. This expression vector contained a 451 bp inverted-repeat
sequence, homologous to the protease gene (P1) of MDMV. It was used for the Agrobacterium tumefaciensmediated transformation of maize calli induced from a susceptible inbred line. A total of 17 T2 transgenic lines were identified by both specific PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization. Of these lines, 15 were evaluated for MDMV resistance in inoculation field trials under two environments. The relative replication levels of the P1 gene were analyzed by quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR.
Results demonstrated that all of the 15 T2 lines showed an enhanced resistance to MDMV in comparison with that of the non-transformed parent line. Six lines were deemed to be ‘resistant’ with an average disease index below 25 %, which was not significantly different from that of the resistant control. The relative replication levels of the virus gene were significantly reduced in these resistant T2 transgenic lines. The efficiency of virus gene silencing was directly related to the transgene copy numbers presented in these transgenic lines.

Link: http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11240-013-0289-z.pdf