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dc.contributor.authorThakare, Dhiraj
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Jianwei
dc.contributor.authorWing, Rod A.
dc.contributor.authorCotty, Peter J.
dc.contributor.authorSchmidt, Monica A.
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-21T19:44:08Z
dc.date.available2017-04-21T19:44:08Z
dc.date.issued2017-03-10
dc.identifier.citationAflatoxin-free transgenic maize using host-induced gene silencing 2017, 3 (3):e1602382 Science Advancesen
dc.identifier.issn2375-2548
dc.identifier.pmid28345051
dc.identifier.doi10.1126/sciadv.1602382
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/623199
dc.description.abstractAflatoxins, toxic secondary metabolites produced by some Aspergillus species, are a universal agricultural economic problem and a critical health issue. Despite decades of control efforts, aflatoxin contamination is responsible for a global loss of millions of tons of crops each year. We show that host-induced gene silencing is an effective method for eliminating this toxin in transgenic maize. We transformed maize plants with a kernel-specific RNA interference (RNAi) gene cassette targeting the aflC gene, which encodes an enzyme in the Aspergillus aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway. After pathogen infection, aflatoxin could not be detected in kernels from these RNAi transgenic maize plants, while toxin loads reached thousands of parts per billion in nontransgenic control kernels. A comparison of transcripts in developing aflatoxin-free transgenic kernels with those from nontransgenic kernels showed no significant differences between these two groups. These results demonstrate that small interfering RNA molecules can be used to silence aflatoxin biosynthesis in maize, providing an attractive and precise engineering strategy that could also be extended to other crops to improve food security.
dc.description.sponsorshipBill and Melinda Gates Foundationen
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCEen
dc.relation.urlhttp://advances.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1602382en
dc.rightsCopyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectmycotoxinen
dc.subjectaflatoxinen
dc.subjectAspergillusen
dc.subjecthost-induced gene silencingen
dc.subjectmaizeen
dc.subjectBiotechnologyen
dc.subjectHIGSen
dc.titleAflatoxin-free transgenic maize using host-induced gene silencingen
dc.typeArticleen
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, Sch Plant Sci, BIO5 Insten
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, USDA, ARSen
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, Sch Plant Scien
dc.identifier.journalScience Advancesen
dc.description.noteOpen Access Journal.en
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.en
dc.eprint.versionFinal published versionen
refterms.dateFOA2018-07-14T02:27:31Z
html.description.abstractAflatoxins, toxic secondary metabolites produced by some Aspergillus species, are a universal agricultural economic problem and a critical health issue. Despite decades of control efforts, aflatoxin contamination is responsible for a global loss of millions of tons of crops each year. We show that host-induced gene silencing is an effective method for eliminating this toxin in transgenic maize. We transformed maize plants with a kernel-specific RNA interference (RNAi) gene cassette targeting the aflC gene, which encodes an enzyme in the Aspergillus aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway. After pathogen infection, aflatoxin could not be detected in kernels from these RNAi transgenic maize plants, while toxin loads reached thousands of parts per billion in nontransgenic control kernels. A comparison of transcripts in developing aflatoxin-free transgenic kernels with those from nontransgenic kernels showed no significant differences between these two groups. These results demonstrate that small interfering RNA molecules can be used to silence aflatoxin biosynthesis in maize, providing an attractive and precise engineering strategy that could also be extended to other crops to improve food security.


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Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).