Open AccessPotato spindle tuber viroid as Inducer of RNA Silencing in Infected Tomato
Author(s) -
Asuka Itaya,
Alexey S. Folimonov,
Yoshie Matsuda,
Richard S. Nelson,
Biao Ding
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
molecular plant-microbe interactions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.565
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1943-7706
pISSN - 0894-0282
DOI - 10.1094/mpmi.2001.14.11.1332
Subject(s) - potato spindle tuber viroid , viroid , rna silencing , rna , gene silencing , trans acting sirna , biology , rna induced silencing complex , rna interference , pathogen , virology , inducer , genetics , gene
Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), an RNA plant pathogen encoding no known proteins, induces systemic symptoms on tomato plants. We report detection of small RNAs of approximately 25 nucleotides with sequence specificity to PSTVd in infected plants: an indication of the presence of RNA silencing. RNA silencing, however, did not appear to be responsible for the differing symptoms induced by a mild and a severe strain of PSTVd. The unique structural and biological features of viroids make them attractive experimental tools to investigate mechanisms of RNA silencing and pathogen counterdefense.