Identification of Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid Small RNA in Orobanche Ramosa by Microarray

ABSTRACT

Post transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants is reported as a defence mechanism against pathogens, like invading viruses and viroids, transposons and transgenes. The processing of double stranded RNAs to 21–24 nt duplex RNAs (small interfering RNAs) by RNAse III-type nuclease homologs-Dicer-like (DCL) enzymes is a key step of this process.

We were interested whether the viroid RNA can trigger silencing in parasitic plant O.ramosa. Therefore we infected O.ramosa attached to tomato with Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid (PSTVd). The presence of small interfering RNAs derived from PSTVd has been detected by miRNA microarray.

Keywords:

• PSTVd
• RNA silencing
• small interfering RNAs
• microarray
• Orobanche ramosa