Virus-induced gene silencing for rice using agroinoculation.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a reverse genetics technique that is based on the RNA-mediated defense against viruses in plants. VIGS is a method of gene knockdown triggered by a replicating viral nucleic acid engineered to carry a host gene to be silenced. While there are a number of excellent VIGS vectors available for dicots, only a few are available for monocots. Here, we describe the detailed method of the use of a newly developed VIGS vector for rice, based on the rice-infecting Rice tungro bacilliform virus, a pararetrovirus with dsDNA genome. Using a method based on Agrobacterium-mediated injection of the VIGS construct at the meristematic region of young rice plants, silencing of target genes can be achieved and the silenced phenotype can be visualized in 3 weeks.