Analysis Of 14-3-3 R Proteins Involved In Disease Resistance Using Virus-Induced Gene Silencing

Plants utilize a variety of defense mechanisms against invading pathogens. RNA-interference (RNAi) is a defense mechanism that plants use to combat viruses1. Double-stranded virus RNA is recognized by host Dicer, an endonuclease that is part of the plant’s immune system, and cleaved at different positions creating 21-25 base pair small interfering RNAs (siRNAs)2. The siRNA becomes part of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) with the protein Argonaute, and is used to locate complementary viral or host mRNAs. Once the complementary strand is located, it is cleaved by Argonaute, a protein component of RISC(Fig. 1), effectively silencing the gene. This phenomenon allows RNA viruses to be used as vectors for silencing host genes in a process termed virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS).