Biomics

Recently, several RNA interference-based disease prevention mechanisms using small RNAs have been used to protect crops in some countries. Plants secrete small RNAs that directly or indirectly inhibit the virulence of pathogens. In this work, we studied the effect of three wheat microRNAs (miR159, miR166 and miR408) synthesized in vitro on the growth and sporulation of the pathogenic fungus Stagonospora nodorum, as well as on the expression of the genes of the necrotrophic effectors (NEs) S. nodorum SnToxA and SnTox3 (which determine the virulence of the pathogen) and the fungal transcription factors (TFs) Pf2, StuA, Con7 regulating the transcription of NE genes. It was shown that the addition of microRNAs in various concentrations into the fungal cultivation medium affected the growth of colonies and sporulation of the pathogen. miR166 had the greatest impact on these parameters. Using gene-specific primers, PCR analysis was carried out, which showed that the effect of microRNA on the expression of the genes encoding NEs and TFs of the pathogenic fungus S. nodorum depended on the type and concentration of microRNA in the medium. Thus, 0.5 ng/μl of ssRNA408 reduced the expression of all the studied NEs and TFs genes on the 7th day of cultivation. Further comprehensive studies of the mechanisms of cross-species regulation using miRNAs may help in the development of new pesticides for modern agriculture. 

Stagonospora nodorum Berk., Triticum L., RNA interference, microRNA, necrotrophic effectors SnToxA and SnTox3, transcription factors SnPf2, SnStuA and SnCon7

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