Chaoqiong Liang1,2, Jianjun Hao3, Jianqiang Li1, Barbara Baker4,5, Laixin Luo6. 1. College of Plant Protection/Beijing Key Laboratory of Seed Disease Testing and Control, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. 2. College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. 3. School of Food and Agriculture, The University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA. 4. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. bbaker@berkeley.edu. 5. United States Department of Agriculture, Plant Gene Expression Center, Agricultural Research Service, Albany, CA, 94710, USA. bbaker@berkeley.edu. 6. College of Plant Protection/Beijing Key Laboratory of Seed Disease Testing and Control, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. luolaixin@cau.edu.cn.
Abstract
MAIN CONCLUSION: We describe a Nicotiana benthamiana system for rapid identification of artificial microRNA (amiRNA) to control cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) disease. Although artificial miRNA technology has been used to control other viral diseases, it has not been applied to reduce severe cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) disease and crop loss in the economically important cucurbits. We used our system to identify three amiRNAs targeting CGMMV RNA (amiR1-CP, amiR4-MP and amiR6-Rep) and show that their expression reduces CGMMV replication and disease in virus-infected plants. This work streamlines the process of generating amiRNA virus-resistant crops and can be broadly applied to identify active antiviral amiRNAs against a broad spectrum of viruses to control disease in diverse crops.
MAIN CONCLUSION: We describe a Nicotiana benthamiana system for rapid identification of artificial microRNA (amiRNA) to control cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) disease. Although artificial miRNA technology has been used to control other viral diseases, it has not been applied to reduce severe cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) disease and crop loss in the economically important cucurbits. We used our system to identify three amiRNAs targeting CGMMV RNA (amiR1-CP, amiR4-MP and amiR6-Rep) and show that their expression reduces CGMMV replication and disease in virus-infected plants. This work streamlines the process of generating amiRNA virus-resistant crops and can be broadly applied to identify active antiviral amiRNAs against a broad spectrum of viruses to control disease in diverse crops.