Abstract Charcoal rot, caused by the fungus Macrophomina phaseolina, affects wide varieties of plant species and may result in serious crop losses. Exogenous siRNAs were applied to target a β-1,3-glucan synthase (MpGLS2) gene in M. phaseolina to test the hypothesis that decreased production of β-1,3-glucan, a major cell wall component, would negatively affect growth of the fungus. Under various testing conditions, fungal growth was suppressed due to siRNA treatments. Importantly, the growth suppression correlated with down regulation of MpGLS2 gene by siRNAs. RNAi-based strategy targeting genes important for cell wall synthesis may provide effective means to control pathogen growth and prevent infection.

中文翻译：

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RNAi介导的β-1,3-葡聚糖合酶敲低抑制植物病原真菌Macrophomina phaseolina的生长

摘要 木炭腐烂由真菌Macrophomina phaseolina 引起，影响多种植物物种，并可能导致严重的作物损失。外源性 siRNA 被用于靶向 M. phaseolina 中的 β-1,3-葡聚糖合酶 (MpGLS2) 基因，以检验β-1,3-葡聚糖（一种主要的细胞壁成分）的产量减少会对植物的生长产生负面影响的假设。真菌。在各种测试条件下，由于 siRNA 处理，真菌生长受到抑制。重要的是，生长抑制与 siRNA 对 MpGLS2 基因的下调相关。基于 RNAi 的策略靶向对细胞壁合成很重要的基因可能提供控制病原体生长和预防感染的有效手段。