earticle

영어

RNA interference (RNAi) or RNA silencing, an evolutionarily conserved cellular mechanism across all plant species, has been a main focus in the field of biotechnology for the past few decades. It is strongly induced by viral infection as a primary antiviral response; enormous viral small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) originated from double stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) targets viral genomic RNAs in a sequence-specific manner. Since RNAi is conserved in eukaryotes, including insects and fungi, RNAi can be applied to control of various pests and pathogens. We developed several RNAi-based techniques, including virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and exogenic dsRNA/siRNA treatment, for functional genomics studies and for control of plant viruses and their insect vectors. Based on our previous researches, we here discuss the potential of RNAi-based methods against tree pathogens, and propose several future technologies for applying RNAi, as a promising tools for control of destructive tree pathogens.