Catching up on RNAi in chestnut work

Feb 12, 2025

Catching up on RNAi in chestnut workThe experiments enabled by Experiment have been in progress and are approaching the point where we can have some results, I am adding some notes to cover the work completed so far. First, I want to acknowledge this paper, Thakare and Zhang 2017 that initially inspired the work to use RNAi in chestnut. In this paper they silenced a gene in Aspergillus responsible for synthesizing a carcinogen called aflatoxin in agricultural crops. The methods we are using are partially based on the what these scientists published by these researchers.
 (Thakare and zhang 2017) 

1. Thakare, D. & Zhang, J. (2017) Aflatoxin-free transgenic maize using host-induced gene silencing. SCIENCE ADVANCES, 9.

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About This Project

Can RNAi be used to reduce the virulence of the pathogens of American chestnut?

SUNY-ESF

The American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was once an important member of the Appalachian ecosystem but was largely destroyed by two introduced plant pathogens. Through the use of techniques previously innovated by researchers at SUNY-ESF, a new form of biotechnology called RNA interference (RNAi) could potentially be pursued to confer resistance to these pathogens by silencing the genes they use to attack American chestnut.