title: The role of virus-derived small interfering RNAs in RNA silencing in plants.
abstract: Antiviral defense is one of the important roles of RNA silencing in plants. Virus-derived small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) are found in the infected host cells, indicating that the host RNA silencing machinery can target viral RNAs for destruction. With the development of high-throughput sequencing of vsiRNAs, recent genetic studies have shed light on the origin and composition of vsiRNAs and their potential functions in the regulation of gene expression. Here, we briefly describe the origin and biogenesis of vsiRNAs, and review the recent discoveries regarding vsiRNA-mediated RNA silencing of viral genomes and host transcripts. This will better our understanding of virus pathogenicity and RNA silencing-related host-pathogen interactions in plants.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Huishan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012367:RNA, Viral