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

集中在不列颠哥伦比亚省的加拿大蓝莓种植者由于蓝莓休克病毒的到来和传播而遭受了越来越多的重大损失。对感染的反应是令人震惊的，因为叶子和花朵在春天会出现枯萎，导致那个季节无法收获果实。植物在1 - 3年内恢复，但由于在此恢复期内产量损失，种植者的成本很高。恢复后，植物仍然有病毒，这是通过花粉传播的蜜蜂和其他授粉者在整个种植和种植之间。由于蜜蜂授粉是浆果生产所必需的，因此处理不会影响蜜蜂。另一方面，有效的治疗方法只需要在开花时使用，以限制病毒通过花粉的传播。在这里，我们建议测试使用一种新的方法称为喷雾诱导基因沉默。它的基础是向植物喷洒与病毒基因组匹配并结合的双链核糖核酸（dsRNA），引发其破坏。我们将进行受控温室实验，以评估（1）是否可以通过RNA应用减少感染植物中的病毒数量，以及（2）是否可以通过将RNA应用于开花植物来防止花粉感染。RNA是存在于所有活细胞和生物体中的天然生物物质，并且本质上不稳定且无毒。由于所使用的RNA是针对这种病毒的，因此这种方法不仅有可能提供针对蓝莓休克病毒传播的第一种治疗方法，而且还为加拿大农业中害虫的未来生物控制的发展提供了一个例子。

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.