Downregulation of Transcription Factor Aflr in Aspergillus Flavus Confers Reduction to Aflatoxin Accumulation in Transgenic Maize With Alteration of Host Plant Architecture

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dc.contributor.authorMonda, E. O.
dc.contributor.authorMasanga, J. O.
dc.contributor.authorMatheka, J. M.
dc.contributor.authorOmer, R. A.
dc.contributor.authorOmmeh, S. C.
dc.contributor.authorAlakonya, A. E.
dc.date.accessioned2015-06-16T10:21:43Z
dc.date.available2015-06-16T10:21:43Z
dc.date.issued2015-04
dc.descriptionDOI 10.1007/s00299-015-1794-9en_US
dc.description.abstractWe report success of host-induced gene silencing in downregulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus infecting maize transformed with a hairpin construct targeting transcription factor aflR. Infestation of crops by aflatoxin-producing fungi results in economic losses as well as negative human and animal health effects. Currently, the control strategies against aflatoxin accumulation are not effective to the small holder farming systems in Africa and this has led to widespread aflatoxin exposure especially in rural populations of sub-Saharan Africa that rely on maize as a staple food crop. A recent strategy called host-induced gene silencing holds great potential for developing aflatoxin-resistant plant germplasm for the African context where farmers are unable to make further investments other than access to the germplasm. We transformed maize with a hairpin construct targeting the aflatoxin biosynthesis transcription factor aflR. The developed transgenic maize were challenged with an aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strain from Eastern Kenya, a region endemic to aflatoxin outbreaks. Our results indicated that aflR was downregulated in A. flavus colonizing transgenic maize. Further, maize kernels from transgenic plants accumulated significantly lower levels of aflatoxins (14-fold) than those from wild type plants. Interestingly, we observed that our silencing cassette caused stunting and reduced kernel placement in the transgenic maize. This could have been due to “off-target” silencing of unintended genes in transformed plants by aflR siRNAs. Overall, this work indicates that host-induced gene silencing has potential in developing aflatoxin-resistant germplasm.en_US
dc.identifier.citationPlant Cell Rep. April 2015en_US
dc.identifier.issn1432-203X
dc.identifier.issn0721-7714
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/12956
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Berlin Heidelbergen_US
dc.subjectAflatoxinsen_US
dc.subjectAflRen_US
dc.subjectHost-induced gene silencingen_US
dc.subjectMaizeen_US
dc.subjectPlant architectureen_US
dc.subjectsiRNAen_US
dc.titleDownregulation of Transcription Factor Aflr in Aspergillus Flavus Confers Reduction to Aflatoxin Accumulation in Transgenic Maize With Alteration of Host Plant Architectureen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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