Plastid dsRNA transgenes trigger phased small RNA-based gene silencing of nuclear-encoded genes.

ABSTRACT: Plastid transformation technology has been widely used to express traits of potential commercial importance, though the technology has been limited to traits that function while sequestered in the organelle. Prior research indicates that plastid contents can escape from the organelle, suggesting a possible mechanism for engineering plastid transgenes to function in other cellular locations. To test this hypothesis, we created tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Petit Havana) plastid transformants that express a fragment of the nuclear-encoded Phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene capable of catalyzing post-transcriptional gene silencing if RNA escapes into the cytoplasm. We found multiple lines of direct evidence that plastid-encoded PDS transgenes affect nuclear PDS gene silencing: knockdown of the n

SUBMITTER: Belanger S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10473229 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature