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Volume 4, Issue 3 (Suppl) Adv Crop Sci Tech
ISSN: 2329-8863 ACST, an open access journal
Page 69
Notes:
Plant Genomics 2016
July 14-15, 2016
conferenceseries.com
July 14-15, 2016 Brisbane, Australia
4th International Conference on Plant Genomics
Cross kingdom RNAi in plant pathogen interactions
Hailing Jin
University of California, USA
Small RNAs (sRNAs) are a class of short non coding regulatory RNAs that are present in almost all the eukaryotes and mediate
gene silencing in a sequence specific manner. Studies from my lab and others have shown that plant endogenous sRNAs play
a critical role in host immune responses against pathogen attacks. We have also demonstrated that some sRNAs from eukaryotic
pathogens, such as Botrytis cinerea, the fungal pathogen that causes grey mold disease on more than 200 plant species could be
translocated into host plant cells. These sRNAs act as effector molecules to suppress host immunity genes for successful infection.
This finding represented the first example of naturally occurring Cross kingdom RNAi during the host pathogen interactions. Similar
phenomenon was recently reported in mammalian system, where a gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus, also
delivers sRNAs to mammalian cells and target host genes involved in innate immunity. Thus, Cross kingdom RNAi was used as an
aggressive virulence mechanism by both plant and animal pathogens and pests. Furthermore, we have found that transgenic plants
that expressing sRNAs that targeting fungus Botrytis Dicer like genes could effectively block the generation of sRNA effectors and
suppress disease symptom. These results suggest that sRNA trafficking is bidirectional; sRNAs could be also transferred from the host
plants to the interacting pathogens.
Biography
Hailing Jin is currently working as a Professor and Director to Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Graduate Program and Vice Chair to Plant Pathology &
Microbiology Department and has obtained PhD degree in 1996 from Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology and her areas of expertise on Small
RNA-mediated Gene Regulation; Plant Immunity. She has received many awards like 2010-15 NIH R01 Award, 2007-12 NSF Career Award, 2008-09 UCR-LANL
Collaborative Award, 2006-09 UC Discovery Award, 2006-10 Awards from California Citrus Research Board, 2007-08 Interdisciplinary Research Award, Institute
for Integrative Genome Biology, 2004, 2006 UC Regents' Faculty Development Award.
Hailing Jin, Adv Crop Sci Tech 2016, 4:3 (Suppl)