Meloidogyne incognita control in cotton mediated host-induced gene silencing.

In the present work we used a Host-Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS) strategy employing RNA interference (RNAi) mechanisms in order to silence RKN essential genes involved in development (cathepsin L cysteine proteinase - MiCPL), metabolism (isocitrate lyase - MiICL), mRNA processing (splicing factor - MiSF) and parasitism (nematode effector Mi16D-10). We staked all four RKN genes into a single construct (dsMINC2), driven by the pUceS8.3 constitutive soybean promoter, in order to control the nematode reproduction in transgenic cotton plants developed from an RKN-susceptible cultivar (BRS372). Transgenic dsMinc2-T2 plants infected with Meloidogyne incognita showed a significant reduction in the number of eggs/g.root -1 (73 - 93%) as well as in the reproduction factor (80-93%), compared with the susceptible non-transgenic cultivar.