Nature Biotechnology
- 24, 1420 - 1428 (2006)
Published online: 22 October 2006; | doi:10.1038/nbt1255
There is a Corrigendum (February 2007) associated with this Article.
Expression of artificial microRNAs in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana confers virus resistanceQi-Wen Niu1, 4, Shih-Shun Lin1, 4, Jose Luis Reyes1, 3, Kuan-Chun Chen1, 3, Hui-Wen Wu1, Shyi-Dong Yeh2 & Nam-Hai Chua11
Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA. 2
Department of Plant Pathology, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kao Kung Road, Taichung, Taiwan 402. 3
Present addresses: Instituto de Biotecnología-UNAM. Ave. Universidad 2001, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62215, Mexico (J.L.R.), Department of Plant Pathology, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kao Kung Road, Taichung, Taiwan 402 (K.-C.C.). 4
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Nam-Hai Chua chua@mail.rockefeller.edu Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the abundance of target mRNAs by guiding their cleavage at the sequence complementary region. We have modified an Arabidopsis thaliana miR159 precursor to express artificial miRNAs (amiRNAs) targeting viral mRNA sequences encoding two gene silencing suppressors, P69 of turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) and HC-Pro of turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). Production of these amiRNAs requires A. thaliana DICER-like protein 1. Transgenic A. thaliana plants expressing amiR-P69159 and amiR-HC-Pro159 are specifically resistant to TYMV and TuMV, respectively. Expression of amiR-TuCP159 targeting TuMV coat protein sequences also confers specific TuMV resistance. However, transgenic plants that express both amiR-P69159 and amiR-HC-Pro159 from a dimeric pre-amiR-P69159/amiR-HC-Pro159 transgene are resistant to both viruses. The virus resistance trait is displayed at the cell level and is hereditable. More important, the resistance trait is maintained at 15 °C, a temperature that compromises small interfering RNA–mediated gene silencing. The amiRNA-mediated approach should have broad applicability for engineering multiple virus resistance in crop plants.
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