Septiani Popi, Pramesti Yonadita, Ghildan Muhammad, Aprilia Kenia Zora, Awaludin Rizki, Medina Safira, Subandiyah Siti, Meitha Karlia
School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia.
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Flora No.1 Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia.
Planta. 2025 Jan 25;261(2):44. doi: 10.1007/s00425-025-04625-0.
The exogenous application of RNAi technology offers new promises for crops improvement. Cell-based or synthetically produced strands are economical, non-transgenic and could induce the same responses. The substantial population growth demands novel strategies to produce crops without further damaging the environment. RNA interference mechanism is one of the promising technologies to biologically control pests and pathogens in crops, suppressing them by cancelling protein synthesis related to parasitism/pathogenesis. The transgenic approach to generate host-induced gene silencing demonstrated high efficacy in controlling pests or pathogens by RNAi mechanism. However, transgenic technology is tightly regulated and still negatively perceived by global consumers. This review presents the basic biology of small RNA, the main actor of the RNAi mechanism, and tested non-transgenic approaches to induce RNAi exogenously. Novel avenues are offered by the discovery of cross-kingdom RNAi, that naturally, plants also deliver small RNA to suppress the growth of their threats. Future applications of non-transgenic RNAi-based biocontrol will involve the production of dsRNA on an industrial scale. Here, the attempts to provide dsRNA for routine application in farms are also discussed, emphasizing that the technology must be accessible by the countries with the greatest population which mostly are poorer ones.
RNAi技术的外源应用为作物改良带来了新的希望。基于细胞或合成产生的链状物经济实惠、非转基因，并且能够引发相同的反应。人口的大幅增长需要新的策略来种植作物，同时又不会进一步破坏环境。RNA干扰机制是在生物学上控制作物害虫和病原体的一种有前景的技术，通过取消与寄生/发病机制相关的蛋白质合成来抑制它们。通过RNAi机制产生宿主诱导基因沉默的转基因方法在控制害虫或病原体方面显示出高效性。然而，转基因技术受到严格监管，并且仍然不为全球消费者所接受。本综述介绍了小RNA的基本生物学特性，RNAi机制的主要参与者，并测试了外源诱导RNAi的非转基因方法。跨物种RNAi的发现提供了新的途径，即植物自然也会传递小RNA来抑制其威胁的生长。基于非转基因RNAi的生物防治的未来应用将涉及工业规模生产dsRNA。在此，还讨论了为农场常规应用提供dsRNA的尝试，强调该技术必须为人口最多的国家（其中大多数是较贫穷的国家）所使用。
