Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and other viral pathogens harm soybean production
and often lead to significant yield loss and quality deterioration. Thus,
scientists from Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China used
RNAi-mediated silencing to control SMV. Their study is published in
Transgenic Research.

The researchers isolated a replicase gene from the SMV SC3 strain, driven by
the leaf-specific rbcS2 promoter from common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and
introduced into soybean. The resulting lines showed lower average disease
indices (2.14-12.35) compared to the control plants in three consecutive
generations. The transgenic lines also exhibited stable and significantly
enhanced resistance to the SMV SC3 strain under field conditions. Further
analysis showed that the greenhouse-grown transgenic lines exhibited robust
resistance to five SMV strains (SC3, SC7, SC15, SC18, and a recombinant
SMV), bean common mosaic virus, and watermelon mosaic virus.

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