RNA interference (RNAi) is commonly used to produce virus tolerant
transgenic plants. Usman Aslam from University of the Punjab in Pakistan
aimed to develop transgenic sugarcane plants expressing a short hairpin RNA
targeting the coat protein (CP) gene of the sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV).

The team designed two RNAi constructs, siRNAs2 and siRNA4, which target the
CP gene. These transgenes were cloned and were independently delivered into
two sugarcane cultivars, SPF-234 and NSG-311, via particle bombardment. The
team selected positive transgenic lines and inoculated them with SCMV.

For sugarcane cultivar NSG-311, the expression of the CP-SCMV gene was
reduced by 10% in shRNA2-lines and by 80% in shRNA4- lines. For the
transgenic SPF-234 lines, the expression of the CP-SCMV was reduced by 20%
in shRNA2-lines and by up to 90% in shRNA4-lines.

These results reveal that sugarcane plants expressing shRNA4 were almost
immune to SCMV infection. This could be a potentially new and powerful
approach in developing virus resistant sugarcane.

[link.springer.com]