Abstract
Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), a sequence-specific RNA degradation mechanism inherent in many life-forms, can be induced in plants by transforming them with either antisense1 or co-suppression2 constructs, but typically this results in only a small proportion of silenced individuals. Here we show that gene constructs encoding intron-spliced RNA with a hairpin structure can induce PTGS with almost 100% efficiency when directed against viruses or endogenous genes. These constructs could prove valuable in reverse genetics, genomics, engineering of metabolic pathways and protection against pathogens.
Access options
Subscribe to Journal
Get full journal access for 1 year
$199.00
only $3.90 per issue
All prices are NET prices.
VAT will be added later in the checkout.
Rent or Buy article
Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.
from$8.99
All prices are NET prices.
References
- 1
Hamilton, A. J., Lycett, G. W. & Grierson, D. Nature 346, 284– 287 (1990).
- 2
Jorgensen, R. A. Science 268, 689–691 ( 1995).
- 3
Waterhouse, P. M., Graham, M. W. & Wang, M.-B Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 13959–13964 (1998).
- 4
Waterhouse, P. M., Smith, N. A. & Wang, M.-B Trends Plant Sci. 4, 452– 457 (1999).
- 5
Wang, M.-B, Upadhyaya, M. N., Brettel, R. I. S. & Waterhouse, P. M. J. Genet. Breed. 51, 325–334 (1997).
- 6
Okuley, J. et al. Plant Cell 6, 147–158 (1994).
- 7
Cartea, M. E., Migdal, M., Galle, A. M., Pelletier, G. & Guerche, P. Plant Sci. 136, 181– 194 (1998).
- 8
Rosche, E. & Westhoff, P. Plant Mol. Biol. 29 , 663–678 (1995).
- 9
Gleave, A. P. Plant Mol. Biol. 20, 1203–1207 (1992).
- 10
Stalberg, K., Ellerstrom, M., Josefsson, L. G. & Rask, L. Plant Mol. Biol. 23, 671–683 (1993).
- 11
Fire, A. et al. Nature 391, 806–811 (1998).
- 12
Sharp, P. A. Genes Dev. 13, 139–141 ( 1999).
Author information
Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
brief communications is intended to provide a forum for short, topical reports of general scientific interest and for technical discussion of recently published material of particular interest to non-specialist readers. Priority will be given to contributions that have fewer than 500 words, 10 references and only one figure. Detailed guidelines are available on Nature's website (http://www.nature.com) or on request from nature@nature.com
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, N., Singh, S., Wang, MB. et al. Total silencing by intron-spliced hairpin RNAs. Nature 407, 319–320 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35030305
Issue Date:
Further reading
-
Intron-assisted, viroid-based production of insecticidal circular double-stranded RNA in Escherichia coli
RNA Biology (2021)
-
The diversity of post-transcriptional gene silencing mediated by small silencing RNAs in plants
Essays in Biochemistry (2020)
-
Critical view on RNA silencing-mediated virus resistance using exogenously applied RNA
Current Opinion in Virology (2020)
-
DsRNA-mediated protection against two isolates of Papaya ringspot virus through topical application of dsRNA in papaya
Journal of Virological Methods (2020)
-
Efficient silencing gene construct for resistance to multiple common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) viruses
3 Biotech (2020)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
