Sample interview questions: Can you explain the principles and applications of plant disease resistance gene silencing techniques?
Sample answer:
Can you explain the principles and applications of plant disease resistance gene silencing techniques?
Principles of Plant Disease Resistance Gene Silencing Techniques:
- RNA Interference (RNAi):
- RNAi is a natural process in which small RNAs (siRNAs) target and degrade complementary mRNA molecules.
- In plant disease resistance gene silencing, siRNAs are specifically designed to target and silence the expression of disease resistance genes in the plant.
-
This silencing prevents the plant from recognizing and responding to the invading microorganism.
-
CRISPR-Cas Systems:
- CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a recently discovered gene editing technology that can be used to target and silence disease resistance genes in plants.
- The CRISPR-Cas system uses a programmable guide RNA molecule to direct the Cas protein to a specific DNA sequence in the plant genome.
- When the Cas protein binds to the DNA sequence, it cleaves the DNA and prevents the expression of the disease resistance gene.
Applications of Plant Disease Resistance Gene Silencing Techniques:
- Disease Management:
- Plant disease resistance gene silencing techniques can be used to manage plant diseases by preventing the expression of disease resistance genes in the plant.
-
This can be achieved by introducing siRNAs or CRISPR-Cas systems into plants using genetic transformation methods.
-
Functional Genomics Studies:
- Plant disease resistance gene silencing techniques can be used to study the function of disease resistance genes in plants.
-
By silencing the expression of a disease resistance gene, researchers can determine the role of that gene in plant defense responses and identify new targets for disease control.
-
Biotechnology and Crop Improvement:<... Read full answer