RNA interference and CRISPR: Promising approaches to better understand and control citrus pathogens

Author(s)

Goulin, Eduardo Henrique ^[1] ; Galdeano, Diogo Manzano ^[1] ; Granato, Lais Moreira ^[1] ; Matsumura, Emilyn Emy ^[2] ; Durigan Dalio, Ronaldo Jose ^[1] ; Machado, Marcos Antonio ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Ctr Citricultura Sylvio Moreira IAC, Rodovia Anhanguera, Km 158, Cordeiropolis, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Calif Davis, Dept Plant Pathol, Davis, CA 95616 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH; v. 226, p. 1-9, 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

Citrus crops have great economic importance worldwide. However, citrus production faces many diseases caused by different pathogens, such as bacteria, oomycetes, fungi and viruses. To overcome important plant diseases in general, new technologies have been developed and applied to crop protection, including RNA interference (RNAi) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems. RNAi has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool for application in plant defence mechanisms against different pathogens as well as their respective vectors, and CRISPR/Cas system has become widely used in gene editing or reprogramming or knocking out any chosen DNA/RNA sequence. In this article, we provide an overview of the use of RNAi and CRISPR/Cas technologies in management strategies to control several plants diseases, and we discuss how these strategies can be potentially used against citrus pathogens. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/23381-7 - Evaluation of transcriptome and potential candidate genes for RNAi sistyms in pathogenic fungi of citrus
• Grantee: Eduardo Henrique Goulin
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate