Evaluation of spray-induced gene silencing as a method to reduce the spread of Blueberry Shock virus in Canadian blueberry farms

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The blueberry growers of Canada, focused in British Columbia, have experienced increasing and substantial losses from the arrival and spread of the Blueberry Shock Virus. The response to infection is shock-like, as leaves and flowers appear blighted in the spring, resulting in no harvestable fruit in that season. Plants recover in 1-3 years, but there is a substantial cost to the grower due to the loss of yield during this recovery period. After recovery, plants still have the virus, which is spread via pollen by honey bees and other pollinators throughout and between plantings. As pollination from bees is necessary for berry production, treatments can not affect bees. On the other hand, an effective treatment would only need to be applied at the time of flowering to limit the spread of the virus through pollen. Here we propose to test the use of a novel methodology known as Spray-Induced Gene Silencing. It is based on spraying the plant with double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) matching and binding to the genome of the virus, triggering its destruction. We will carry out controlled greenhouse experiments to assess (1) if the number of viruses in infected plants can be reduced by RNA application, and (2) if Infection via pollen can be prevented by applying RNA to flowering plants. RNA is a natural biological substance present in all living cells and organisms and is inherently unstable and non-toxic. Since the used RNA is targeted for this virus, this method has the potential of providing not only the first treatment against the spread of Blueberry Shock Virus but also provide an example for the development of future biological control of pests in Canadian agriculture.