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Host Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS), a Promising Strategy for Developing Disease Resistant Crops

Chuntao Yin and Scot Hulbert

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool for elucidating gene function in plants and altering gene expression for desired traits . Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) is an RNAi-based process where small RNAs made in the plant silence genes of pests or pathogens that attack the plant. The small RNAs are generally made by producing double stranded RNA (dsRNA) in transgenic plants but for experimental purposes the dsRNA can be introduced into plant cells with agrobacterium or viruses that replicate through dsRNA. Gene silencing approaches for pest resistance in plants have only been commercialized for virus resistance to date.