Silencing of the AV2 gene by antisense RNA protects transgenic plants against a bipartite begomovirus

Whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses (genus Begomovirus) are phytopathogens that cause heavy losses to crops worldwide. Efforts to engineer resistance against these viruses are focused mainly on silencing of complementary-sense virus genes involved in virus replication. Here we have targeted a virion-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virology journal 2007-01, Vol.4 (1), p.10-10, Article 10
Main Authors: Mubin, Muhammad, Mansoor, Shahid, Hussain, Mazhar, Zafar, Yusuf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Begomovirus
Begomovirus - genetics
Begomovirus - metabolism
Begomovirus - pathogenicity
DNA, Viral - analysis
Gene Silencing
Lycopersicon esculentum
Nicotiana - genetics
Nicotiana - virology
Plant Diseases - virology
Plants, Genetically Modified - virology
RNA, Antisense - genetics
RNA, Antisense - metabolism
Short Report
Solanum lycopersicum - virology
Viral Proteins - genetics
Viral Proteins - metabolism
Virion - metabolism
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Summary:Whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses (genus Begomovirus) are phytopathogens that cause heavy losses to crops worldwide. Efforts to engineer resistance against these viruses are focused mainly on silencing of complementary-sense virus genes involved in virus replication. Here we have targeted a virion-sense gene (AV2) to develop resistance against Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus, a bipartite begomovirus prevalent throughout the Indian subcontinent. We show that tobacco plants transformed with an antisense construct targeting this gene are resistant to the virus. Following challenged with the virus, transgenic plants remained symptomless, although viral DNA could be detected in some plants by PCR. This is the first report of transgenic resistance against a bipartite begomovirus obtained by targeting a virion-sense gene. The relatively conserved nature of the gene suggests that the technology may be useful to develop broad-spectrum resistance which is required because of the fact that plants are often infected with multiple begomoviruses in the field.
ISSN:1743-422X
1743-422X
DOI:10.1186/1743-422x-4-10