TY  - JOUR
TI  - Efficient Transient Gene Knock-down in Tobacco Plants Using Carbon Nanocarriers
AU  - Demirer, Gozde S
AU  - Landry, Markita P.
VL  - 11
IS  - 1
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/01/05
SP  - e3897
C1  - Bio-protocol 2021;11:e3897
DO  - 10.21769/BioProtoc.3897
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.3897
AB  - Gene knock-down in plants is a useful approach to study genotype-phenotype relationships, render disease resistance to crops, and enable efficient biosynthesis of molecules in plants. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated gene silencing is one of the most common ways to achieve gene knock-down in plants. Traditionally, siRNA is delivered into intact plant cells by coding the siRNA sequences into DNA vectors, which are then delivered through viral and/or bacterial methods. In this protocol, we provide an alternative direct delivery method of siRNA molecules into intact plant cells for efficient transient gene knock-down in model tobacco plant, Nicotiana benthamiana, leaves. Our approach uses one dimensional carbon-based nanomaterials, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), to deliver siRNA, and does not rely on viral/bacterial delivery. The distinct advantages of our method are i) there is no need for DNA coding of siRNA sequences, ii) this abiotic method could work in a broader range of plant species than biotic methods, and iii) there are fewer regulatory complications when using abiotic delivery methods, whereby gene silencing is transient without permanent modification of the plant genome.Graphic abstract
KW  - Plant gene silencing
KW  - RNA interference
KW  - siRNA delivery
KW  - Gene knock-down
KW  - Nicotiana benthamiana
KW  - Carbon nanotubes
KW  - Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT)
KW  - Nanomaterials
JF  - Bio-protocol
SN  - 2331-8325
PB  - Bio-protocol LLC.
BIO101  - False