Dear Editor, Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a fast and powerful method to study gene function in plants (Burch-Smith et al.,2004).It is based on plant defense mechanisms against viral gene replication and allows high-throughput silencing of genes of interest (Senthil-Kumar and Mysore,2014).The molecular mechanisms involved in post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) have been studied intensively,and its steps are well known.The silencing process begins with the recognition through Dicer-like ribonucleases (DCL) of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that is generated during viral replication.Upon recognition,the dsRNA is processed into 21-24 nucleotide fragments,termed small interfering RNA (siRNA).Based on sequence homology,both viral siRNA and plant mRNA associate with an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and are targeted for degradation (Llave,2010).
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