title: An RNAi-Based Control of Fusarium graminearum Infections Through Spraying of Long dsRNAs Involves a Plant Passage and Is Controlled by the Fungal Silencing Machinery.
abstract: Meeting the increasing food and energy demands of a growing population will require the development of ground-breaking strategies that promote sustainable plant production. Host-induced gene silencing has shown great potential for controlling pest and diseases in crop plants. However, while delivery of inhibitory noncoding double-stranded (ds)RNA by transgenic expression is a promising concept, it requires the generation of transgenic crop plants which may cause substantial delay for application strategies depending on the transformability and genetic stability of the crop plant species. Using the agronomically important barley-Fusarium graminearum pathosystem, we alternatively demonstrate that a spray application of a long noncoding dsRNA (791 nt CYP3-dsRNA), which targets the three fungal cytochrome P450 lanosterol C-14α-demethylases, required for biosynthesis of fungal ergosterol, inhibits fungal growth in the directly sprayed (local) as well as the non-sprayed (distal) parts of detached leaves. Unexpectedly, efficient spray-induced control of fungal infections in the distal tissue involved passage of CYP3-dsRNA via the plant vascular system and processing into small interfering (si)RNAs by fungal DICER-LIKE 1 (FgDCL-1) after uptake by the pathogen. We discuss important consequences of this new finding on future RNA-based disease control strategies. Given the ease of design, high specificity, and applicability to diverse pathogens, the use of target-specific dsRNA as an anti-fungal agent offers unprecedented potential as a new plant protection strategy.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7976-9389
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biedenkopf
authors.affiliation: Institute of General Botany and Plant Physiology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rossbach
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Eltayb
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abdellatef
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Linicus
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1248-604X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johannsmeier
authors.affiliation: Institute for Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jelonek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goesmann
authors.affiliation: BASF Plant Science LP, Research Triangle Park, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Vinitha
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cardoza
authors.affiliation: BASF Plant Science LP, Research Triangle Park, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.affiliation: BASF SE, Limburgerhof, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mentzel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Phytopathology, Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kogel
mesh_terms: D061046:Biological Control Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D060585:Fusariosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001467:Hordeum / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D061046:Biological Control Agents; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering