Exogenous RNA interference (exo-RNAi) is a powerful transgene-free tool in modern crop improvement and protection platforms. In exo-RNAi approaches, double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) or short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are externally applied in plants in order to selectively trigger degradation of target mRNAs. Yet, the applied dsRNAs may also trigger unintended epigenetic alterations and result in epigenetically modified plants, an issue that has not been sufficiently addressed and which merits more careful consideration.

中文翻译：

---

表观遗传修饰：外源RNA在植物中的未开发应用。

外源RNA干扰（exo-RNAi）是现代作物改良和保护平台中强大的无转基因工具。在外RNAi方法中，将双链RNA（dsRNA）或短干扰RNA（siRNA）外部应用于植物，以选择性地触发靶标mRNA的降解。然而，所应用的dsRNA也可能触发意想不到的表观遗传学改变，并导致表观遗传学修饰的植物，这一问题尚未得到充分解决，需要更仔细地考虑。