Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Screening and Identification of RNA Silencing Suppressors from Secreted Effectors of Plant Pathogens
Published on: February 3, 2020
Structural and functional analysis of CMV satellite RNAs in RNA silencing
Hanako Shimura1, Chikara Masuta
1Laboratory of Cell Biology and Manipulation, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Abstract:
Viroids and satellite RNAs, which are the smallest infectious agents in plants, have noncoding RNA genomes and characteristic secondary structures. Some satellite RNAs (satRNAs) cause disease symptoms that are different from those induced by their helper virus. This phenomenon has been implicated in RNA silencing of host gene(s) as a result of sequence identity or complementarity between satRNAs and host RNAs. To investigate the effects of satRNA sequence on direct coincident interference with host gene expression, we developed a transient RNA silencing assay using protoplasts. With this protoplast system, we can induce various forms and lengths of silencing inducers at various concentrations to uniform cells without viral infection, and then we can use the satRNA-treated protoplasts in further analyses such as real-time RT-PCR and northern blot hybridization analyses to investigate whether the satRNA-induced symptoms are due to down-regulation of the target gene expression.
Related Concept Videos
siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
Experimental RNAi
MicroRNAs
MicroRNAs
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
Types of RNA
RNA Performs Diverse...

