Horizontal gene transfer from plant to whitefly

Horizontal gene transfer from plant to whitefly

Time Stamp: February 2, 2023 7:00 AM
Source Node: 1936834

Abstract

The recent discovery of the horizontal transfer of a toxin-neutralizing gene from plant to whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), a polyphagous insect, sparked a new area of study. In this forum, we discuss some potential biotechnological applications of this newly discovered knowledge in the coevolutionary arms race between plants and whitefly.

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Glossary

CRISPR-Cas system

CRIPSR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and Cas is the CRISPR-associated protein/enzyme. It is a potent tool for genome editing that can selectively modify DNA sequences at any specific location in the genome of any organism. The system consists of two parts – the Cas enzyme and a guide RNA.

Gene drive

a self-replicating technique through which desired genetic variants can be spread through a population faster than traditional Mendelian inheritance. It is a natural process and also a genetic engineering technique that transmits a certain set of genes throughout a population by changing the chance that a given allele will be passed on to progeny. In this case, the Mendelian 50% probability is not fulfilled.

Gene silencing

regulation of gene expression in a cell to stop the expression of a particular gene is known as gene silencing. It can occur during transcription or translation. Various methods of gene silencing are used in research, for example, VIGS, RNAi, CRISPR, etc.

Monophagous

insects feeding upon only one species or genus of plants is called as monophagous. In contrast, polyphagous insect pests are primarily agricultural pests that feed on economically important agricultural and horticultural crops of wide taxonomic diversity across the globe. They cause immense damage across different crop varieties owing to their generalist and voracious food habits. Whitefly, aphids, etc. are polyphagous insects.

RNAi

a biological process in which RNA molecules take part in the sequence-specific inhibition of translation or transcription of genes by double-stranded RNA. RNAi is also known as co-suppression, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), and quelling.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS)

a reverse genetic approach for analyzing the activity of genes that uses viral vectors carrying the target gene fragment to make dsRNA that starts the RNA-mediated gene silencing. Several viruses are modified to effectively and specifically silence the target gene. VIGS can successfully silence genes at the RNA level to study the functions of the target genes.

Article info

Publication history

Published online: February 02, 2023

Publication stage

In press, corrected proof

Identification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.01.007

Copyright

© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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