Planta

, Volume 226, Issue 6, pp 1525–1533 | Cite as

Host-delivered RNAi: an effective strategy to silence genes in plant parasitic nematodes

  • David J. Fairbairn
  • Antonino S. Cavallaro
  • Margaret Bernard
  • Janani Mahalinga-Iyer
  • Michael W. Graham
  • José R. Botella
Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are obligate, sedentary endoparasites that infect many plant species causing large economic losses worldwide. Available nematicides are being banned due to their toxicity or ozone-depleting properties and alternative control strategies are urgently required. We have produced transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing different dsRNA hairpin structures targeting a root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) putative transcription factor, MjTis11. We provide evidence that MjTis11 was consistently silenced in nematodes feeding on the roots of transgenic plants. The observed silencing was specific for MjTis11, with other sequence-unrelated genes being unaffected in the nematodes. Those transgenic plants able to induce silencing of MjTis11, also showed the presence of small interfering RNAs. Even though down-regulation of MjTis11 did not result in a lethal phenotype, this study demonstrates the feasibility of silencing root-knot nematode genes by expressing dsRNA in the host plant. Host-delivered RNA interference-triggered (HD-RNAi) silencing of parasite genes provides a novel disease resistance strategy with wide biotechnological applications. The potential of HD-RNAi is not restricted to parasitic nematodes but could be adapted to control other plant-feeding pests.

Keywords

Nematode resistance RNA interference Root knot nematodes 

Abbreviations

dsRNA

Double-stranded RNA

HD-RNAi

Host-delivered RNA interference

RKN

Root knot nematode

RNAi

RNA interference

qRT-PCR

Quantitative real time PCR

siRNA

Small interfering RNA

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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Jenny Cobon (Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries) for technical assistance and advice with the nematode challenge experiments. We are grateful to the Washington University Genome Sequencing Centre Parasitic Nematode Sequencing Project for provision of the M. javanica Tis11 clone (rk10c12.y1), Dr. Peter Waterhouse (CSIRO) for the pHannibal plasmid and the silenced GUS transgenic tobacco lines and Dr. Bernie Carroll (University of Queensland) for the binary vector pUQC477. We thank Prof. Robert Birch and Lemise Kassim for their critical reading of the manuscript and Chris Brosnan for the advice on siRNA detection. This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (LP0211611) and Golden Circle Ltd.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • David J. Fairbairn
    • 1
  • Antonino S. Cavallaro
    • 1
  • Margaret Bernard
    • 2
  • Janani Mahalinga-Iyer
    • 1
  • Michael W. Graham
    • 2
  • José R. Botella
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Botany, School of Integrative BiologyUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia
  2. 2.Emerging Technologies Delivery, Department of Primary Industries and FisheriesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia

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