DOI: 10.1073/pnas.241276898. RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing confers resistance to crown gall tumorigenesis

RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing confers resistance to crown gall tumorigenesis

10.1073/pnas.241276898

Crossref journal-article

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)

Abstract

Crown gall disease, caused by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens , results in significant economic losses in perennial crops worldwide. A. tumefaciens is one of the few organisms with a well characterized horizontal gene transfer system, possessing a suite of oncogenes that, when integrated into the plant genome, orchestrate de novo auxin and cytokinin biosynthesis to generate tumors. Specifically, the iaaM and ipt oncogenes, which show ≈90% DNA sequence identity across studied A. tumefaciens strains, are required for tumor formation. By expressing two self-complementary RNA constructions designed to initiate RNA interference (RNAi) of iaaM and ipt , we generated transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana and Lycopersicon esculentum plants that are highly resistant to crown gall disease development. In in vitro root inoculation bioassays with two biovar I strains of A. tumefaciens , transgenic Arabidopsis lines averaged 0.0–1.5% tumorigenesis, whereas wild-type controls averaged 97.5% tumorigenesis. Similarly, several transformed tomato lines that were challenged by stem inoculation with three biovar I strains, one biovar II strain, and one biovar III strain of A. tumefaciens displayed between 0.0% and 24.2% tumorigenesis, whereas controls averaged 100% tumorigenesis. This mechanism of resistance, which is based on mRNA sequence homology rather than the highly specific receptor–ligand binding interactions characteristic of traditional plant resistance genes, should be highly durable. If successful and durable under field conditions, RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing may find broad applicability in the improvement of tree crop and ornamental rootstocks.

Bibliography

Escobar, M. A., Civerolo, E. L., Summerfelt, K. R., & Dandekar, A. M. (2001). RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing confers resistance to crown gall tumorigenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(23), 13437â13442.

Authors 4

Matthew A. Escobar (first)
Edwin L. Civerolo (additional)
Kristin R. Summerfelt (additional)
Abhaya M. Dandekar (additional)

References 33 Referenced 171

F A Bliss, A A Almedhi, A M Dandekar, P L Schuerman, N I Bellaloui Hortic Sci 34, 326–330 (1999). / Hortic Sci by Bliss F A (1999)
E F Smith, N A Brown, C O Townsend U S Dept Agric Bur Plant Bull 213, 1–215 (1911). / U S Dept Agric Bur Plant Bull by Smith E F (1911)
A Kerr Plant Dis 64, 25–30 (1980). / Plant Dis by Kerr A (1980)
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C Lichtenstein, H Klee, A Montoya, D Garfinkel, S Fuller, C Flores, E Nester, M Gordon J Mol Appl Genet 2, 354–362 (1984). / J Mol Appl Genet by Lichtenstein C (1984)
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10.1038/35000102
10.1073/pnas.060034297
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N Bechtold, J Ellis, G Pelletier Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie III: Sciences de la Vie 316, 1194–1199 (1993). / Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie III: Sciences de la Vie by Bechtold N (1993)
J J Fillatti, J Kiser, R Rose, L Comai Bio/Technology 5, 726–730 (1987). / Bio/Technology by Fillatti J J (1987)
J Sambrook, E F Fritsch, T Maniatis Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Press, Plainview, NY, 1989). / Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual by Sambrook J (1989)
10.1007/BF02667740
10.1006/gcen.1998.7085
10.1007/BF00028910
J Nam, A G Matthysse, S B Gelvin Plant Cell 9, 317–333 (1997). / Plant Cell by Nam J (1997)
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10.1126/science.291.5502.306
10.1016/S1360-1385(99)01467-3
10.1007/s004380050985
10.1111/j.1399-3054.1997.tb03050.x
10.1016/0147-619X(81)90051-2
10.1094/MPMI.1998.11.4.327
10.1007/BF00171350
10.1128/AEM.65.5.1936-1940.1999

Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years, 1 month ago (July 26, 2002, 10:32 a.m.)
Deposited	3 years, 4 months ago (April 13, 2022, 9:41 a.m.)
Indexed	6 days, 1 hour ago (Aug. 26, 2025, 2:31 a.m.)
Issued	23 years, 10 months ago (Oct. 30, 2001)
Published	23 years, 10 months ago (Oct. 30, 2001)
Published Online	23 years, 10 months ago (Oct. 30, 2001)
Published Print	23 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 6, 2001)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Escobar_2001, title={RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing confers resistance to crown gall tumorigenesis}, volume={98}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.241276898}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.241276898}, number={23}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Escobar, Matthew A. and Civerolo, Edwin L. and Summerfelt, Kristin R. and Dandekar, Abhaya M.}, year={2001}, month=oct, pages={13437–13442} }

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