Virus-induced gene silencing for comparative functional studies in Gladiolus hybridus

Functional analysis of genes in gladiolus has previously been impractical due to the lack of an efficient stable genetic transformation method. However, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is effective in some plants which are difficult to transform through other methods. Although the Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS system has been developed and used for verifying gene functions in diverse plants, an appropriate TRV-VIGS approach for gladiolus has not been established yet. In this report we describe the first use of the TRV-VIGS system for gene silencing in gladiolus. Vacuum infiltration of cormels and young plants with the GhPDS-VIGS vector effectively down-regulated the PHYTOENE DESATURASE ortholog GhPDS gene and also resulted in various degrees of photobleaching in Gladiolus hybridus. The reduction in GhPDS expression was tested after TRV-based vector infection using real-time RT-PCR. In addition, the progress of TRV infection was detected by fluorescence visualization using a pTRV2: CP-GFP vector. In conclusion, the TRV-mediated VIGS described here will be an effective gene function analysis mechanism in gladiolus.