title: RNA interference in Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed roots of Arabidopsis and Medicago truncatula.
abstract: RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful reverse genetic tool to study gene function. The data presented here show that Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated RNAi is a fast and effective tool to study genes involved in root biology. The Arabidopsis gene KOJAK, involved in root hair development, was efficiently knocked down. A. rhizogenes-mediated root transformation is a fast method to generate adventitious, genetically transformed roots. In order to select for co-transformed roots a binary vector was developed that enables selection based on DsRED1 expression, with the additional benefit that chimaeric roots can be discriminated. The identification of chimaeric roots provided the opportunity to examine the extent of systemic spread of the silencing signal in the composite plants of both Arabidopsis and Medicago truncatula. It is shown that RNA silencing does not spread systemically to non-co-transformed (lateral) roots and only inefficiently to the non-transgenic shoot. Furthermore, evidence is presented which shows that RNAi is cell autonomous in the root epidermis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Wageningen University, Dreijenlaan 3, 6703HA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Limpens
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Carolien
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franken
authors.forename: Vered
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Compaan
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Franssen
authors.forename: Ton
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bisseling
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geurts
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D020868:Gene Silencing; D029902:Medicago / Q000382:microbiology*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D034622:RNA Interference / Q000502:physiology*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial