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Engineering geminivirus resistance in Jatropha curcus.
Jian Ye1, Jing Qu2, Hui-Zhu Mao2
1Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, NO.1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604 Singapore ; State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO.1 Beichen West Road, Beijing, 100101 China.
Transgenic Jatropha curcus plants were developed with durable resistance to Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) using RNA interference. This breakthrough enhances Jatropha curcus productivity for biodiesel by overcoming viral disease limitations.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biotechnology
- Molecular Virology
- Sustainable Energy
Background:
- Jatropha curcus is a key crop for biodiesel in tropical/subtropical regions.
- Susceptibility to Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) limits J. curcus productivity.
- Developing virus-resistant J. curcus is a significant biotechnological challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop Jatropha curcus with durable resistance to geminiviruses.
- To address the challenge of viral disease outbreaks impacting J. curcus cultivation.
Main Methods:
- Generated transgenic J. curcus expressing hairpin double-stranded (ds) RNA targeting key ICMV genes.
- Utilized RNA interference (RNAi) to silence viral genes and confer resistance.
- Virus inoculation via vacuum infiltration and quantitative PCR to assess resistance.
Main Results:
- Transgenic J. curcus lines exhibited resistance to ICMV-Dha and ICMV-SG strains.
- dsRNA expression effectively silenced target viral genes, conferring resistance.
- Resistant transgenic lines showed no detectable virus, confirming efficacy.
Conclusions:
- Successfully developed virus-resistant transgenic J. curcus plants.
- The developed plants offer durable resistance to prevalent Asian geminiviruses.
- These transgenic plants are valuable for Jatropha breeding programs.
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Transgenic Plants
The first-ever transgenic plant was a tobacco plant developed in 1983 that showed resistance against the tobacco mosaic virus. Since then, many transgenic plants have been developed and commercialized for improving the agricultural, ornamental, and horticultural value of a crop plant. Transgenic...