Gene silencing: concepts, applications, and perspectives in woody plants

RNA interference, transcriptional gene silencing, virus induced gene silencing, and micro RNAs comprise a series of mechanisms capable of suppressing gene expression in plants. These mechanisms reveal similar biochemical pathways and appear to be related in several levels. The ability to manipulate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Souza,Amancio José de (author)
Other Authors: Mendes,Beatriz Madalena Januzzi (author), Mourão Filho,Francisco de Assis Alves (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-90162007000600014
Country:Brazil
Oai:oai:scielo:S0103-90162007000600014
Description
Summary:RNA interference, transcriptional gene silencing, virus induced gene silencing, and micro RNAs comprise a series of mechanisms capable of suppressing gene expression in plants. These mechanisms reveal similar biochemical pathways and appear to be related in several levels. The ability to manipulate gene silencing has produced transgenic plants able to switch off endogenous genes and invading nucleic acids. This powerful biotechnological tool has provided plant breeders and researchers with great opportunity to accelerate breeding programs and developmental studies in woody plants. This research work reports on gene silencing in woody plants, and discuss applications and future perspectives.