RNA silencing is a powerful technology for molecular characterization of gene functions in plants. A commonly used approach to the induction of RNA silencing is through genetic transformation. A potent alternative is to use a modified viral vector for virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to degrade RNA molecules sharing similar nucleotide sequence. Unfortunately, genomic studies in many allogamo...

Abstract Flower senescence is commonly enhanced by the endogenous hormone ethylene and suppressed gibberellins (GAs) in plants. However, detailed mechanisms for antagonism of these hormones during flower remain elusive. In this study, we characterized one up-regulated gene PhOBF1, belonging to basic leucine zipper transcription factor family, senescing petals petunia (Petunia hybrida). Exogenou...

Plant viral vectors are valuable tools for heterologous gene expression, and because of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), they also have important applications as reverse genetics tools for gene function studies. Viral vectors are especially useful for plants such as soybean (Glycine max) that are recalcitrant to transformation. Previously, two generations of bean pod mottle virus (BPMV; gen...

Functional genomics in plants has been facilitated greatly by the use of plant viruses to carry segments of host genes that can then promote the silencing of the RNAs expressed from the corresponding host genes; a process called virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). The silencing of genes in filamentous fungi is either technically more problematic or labor-intensive, especially if transgenic pla...

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful reverse genetics tool wherein the expression of a targeted gene is reduced by a viral vector in a sequence homology-dependent manner. A VIGS system using a modified Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) has been developed and successfully employed in the functional characterization of genes in monocots. There are several inherent limitations to the ...

The most devastating abiotic factors worldwide are drought and salinity, causing severe bottlenecks in the agricultural sector. To acclimatize to these harsh ecological conditions, plants have developed complex molecular mechanisms involving diverse gene families. Among them, S-adenosyl-L-methionine synthetase (SAMS) genes initiate physiological, morphological, changes enable adapt appropriatel...

The transition from vegetative growth to floral meristems in higher plants is regulated through the integration of internal cues and environmental signals. We were interested to examine the molecular mechanism of flowering in the day-neutral plant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and the effect of environmental conditions on tomato flowering. Analysis of the tomato genome uncovered 13 PEBP (pho...