Verticillium wilt (VW) of cottom is a highly devastating vascular disease.
However, few resistant germplasms have been reported in cotton. An
increasing number of studies have shown that RNA interference (RNAi)
host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) is effective for improving plant
resistance to pathogens by silencing genes essential to their pathogenicity.

The team of Jun Xu of Nanjing Agricultural University identified regulators
of G protein signalling (RGS) in the Verticillium dahliae virulence strain,
Vd8. Out of the eight VdRGS identified genes, VdRGS1 showed the most
significant increase in expression in V. dahliae after infecting roots of
cotton seedlings. Analysis found that VdRGS1 played crucial roles in
Verticillium's pathogenicity. RNAi-HIGS of VdRGS1 in cotton strains enhanced
broad-spectrum resistance to VW caused by V. dahliae.

RNAi of VdRGS1 demonstrates that VdRGS1 is an essential gene for V. dahliae
virulence. It also provides effective control against V. dahliae infection
and could confer durable disease resistance in cotton and in other
VW-susceptible host crops.



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