TY - JOUR
T1 - Foliar Delivery of siRNA Particles for Treating Viral Infections in Agricultural Grapevines
AU - Avital, Aviram
AU - Muzika, Noy Sadot
AU - Persky, Zohar
AU - Bar, Gili
AU - Michaeli, Yuval
AU - Fridman, Yulia
AU - Karny, Avishai
AU - Shklover, Jeny
AU - Shainsky, Janna
AU - Savaldi-Goldstein, Sigal
AU - Weissman, Haim
AU - Shoseyov, Oded
AU - Schroeder, Avi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH
PY - 2021/10/26
Y1 - 2021/10/26
N2 - Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is a globally spreading viral infection that causes major economic losses by reducing crop yield, plant longevity, and berry quality, with no effective treatment. Grapevine leafroll associated virus-3 (GLRaV-3) is the most severe, prevalent GLD strain affecting wine production. Here, the ability of RNA interference (RNAi), a non-GMO gene-silencing pathway, to treat GLRaV-3 in infected Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines is evaluated. Lipid-modified polyethylenimine (lmPEI) is synthesized as the carrier for long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA, 250-bp-long) that targets RNA polymerase and coat protein is a gene target that are conserved in the GLRaV-3 genome. Self-assembled dsRNA–lmPEI particles, 220 nm in diameter, display inner ordered domains spaced 7.3 ± 2 nm from one another, correlating to lmPEI wrapping spirally around the dsRNA. The particles effectively protect RNA from degradation by ribonucleases and show to increase uptake rate into plant cells as a result of the lipid component comprising the RNA carrier. In three field experiments, a single dose of foliar sprayed treatment of the RNA-particles knocks down GLRaV-3 titer, and multiple doses of the treatment keep the viral titer at baseline and trigger recovery of the vine and berries. This study demonstrates RNAi as a promising platform for treating viral diseases in agriculture.
AB - Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is a globally spreading viral infection that causes major economic losses by reducing crop yield, plant longevity, and berry quality, with no effective treatment. Grapevine leafroll associated virus-3 (GLRaV-3) is the most severe, prevalent GLD strain affecting wine production. Here, the ability of RNA interference (RNAi), a non-GMO gene-silencing pathway, to treat GLRaV-3 in infected Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines is evaluated. Lipid-modified polyethylenimine (lmPEI) is synthesized as the carrier for long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA, 250-bp-long) that targets RNA polymerase and coat protein is a gene target that are conserved in the GLRaV-3 genome. Self-assembled dsRNA–lmPEI particles, 220 nm in diameter, display inner ordered domains spaced 7.3 ± 2 nm from one another, correlating to lmPEI wrapping spirally around the dsRNA. The particles effectively protect RNA from degradation by ribonucleases and show to increase uptake rate into plant cells as a result of the lipid component comprising the RNA carrier. In three field experiments, a single dose of foliar sprayed treatment of the RNA-particles knocks down GLRaV-3 titer, and multiple doses of the treatment keep the viral titer at baseline and trigger recovery of the vine and berries. This study demonstrates RNAi as a promising platform for treating viral diseases in agriculture.
KW - RNAi
KW - agriculture
KW - nanotechnology
KW - siRNA
KW - viral diseases
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109373048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/adfm.202101003
DO - 10.1002/adfm.202101003
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:85109373048
SN - 1616-301X
VL - 31
JO - Advanced Functional Materials
JF - Advanced Functional Materials
IS - 44
M1 - 2101003
ER -