Pest resistant plants
• A nematode Meloidegyne incognitia infects the roots of tobacco plants which reduces the production of tobacco.
• It can be prevented by using RNA interference (RNAi) process which is checked by silencing of specific mRNA due to a complementary dsRNA.
• dsRNA binds and prevents translation of the mRNA (silencing).
• By using Agrobacterium vectors, nematode-specific genes were introduced into the host plants which produce both sense and anti-sense RNA in the host cells.
• These two RNAs are complementary to each other and form a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that initiates RNAi and hence silence the specific mRNA of the nematode.
• The parasite cannot survive in the transgenic host, so protects the plants from pests.
