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Targeted Delivery of Gene Silencing in Fungi Using Genetically Engineered Bacteria
oleh: Jonatan Niño-Sánchez, Li-Hung Chen, Jorge Teodoro De Souza, Sandra Mosquera, Ioannis Stergiopoulos
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-02-01 |
Deskripsi
Exploiting RNA interference (RNAi) in disease control through non-transformative methods that overcome the hurdle of producing transgenic plants has attracted much attention over the last years. Here, we explored such a method and used non-pathogenic bacteria as a versatile system for delivering RNAi to fungi. Specifically, the RNaseIII-null mutant strain of <i>Escherichia coli</i> HT115(DE3) was transformed with two plasmid vectors that enabled the constitutive or IPTG-inducible production of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) against genes involved in aflatoxins production in <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> (<i>AflC</i>) or virulence of <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> (<i>BcSAS1</i>). To facilitate the release of the dsRNAs, the bacterial cells were further genetically engineered to undergo a bacteriophage endolysin R-mediated autolysis, following a freeze-thaw cycle. Exposure under in vitro conditions of <i>A. flavus</i> or <i>B. cinerea</i> to living bacteria or their whole-cell autolysates induced silencing of <i>AflC</i> and <i>BcSAS1</i> in a bacteria concentration-dependent manner, and instigated a reduction in aflatoxins production and mycelial growth, respectively. In planta applications of the living bacteria or their crude whole-cell autolysates produced similar results, thus creating a basis for translational research. These results demonstrate that bacteria can produce biologically active dsRNA against target genes in fungi and that bacteria-mediated RNAi can be used to control fungal pathogens.