Biotech Updates

RNAi Increases Soybean's Resistance to Viral Pathogens

September 6, 2017

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and other viral pathogens harm soybean production and often lead to significant yield loss and quality deterioration. Thus, scientists from Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China used RNAi-mediated silencing to control SMV. Their study is published in Transgenic Research.

The researchers isolated a replicase gene from the SMV SC3 strain, driven by the leaf-specific rbcS2 promoter from common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and introduced into soybean. The resulting lines showed lower average disease indices (2.14-12.35) compared to the control plants in three consecutive generations. The transgenic lines also exhibited stable and significantly enhanced resistance to the SMV SC3 strain under field conditions. Further analysis showed that the greenhouse-grown transgenic lines exhibited robust resistance to five SMV strains (SC3, SC7, SC15, SC18, and a recombinant SMV), bean common mosaic virus, and watermelon mosaic virus.

Read more details on the study in Transgenic Research.