RNA Interference in Plant Protection from Fungal and Oomycet Infection

Abstract

Phytopathogenic fungi pose a threat to food security, limiting the biological potential of agricultural crops and reducing the quality of products. New plant protection methods based on natural systemic and cellular phytoimmunity are being developed to date, where a unique mechanism, described by the term “RNA interference” (RNAi), occupies a special place. RNAi regulates the expression of target genes in a homologically dependent manner and, with the involvement of a protein complex designated as RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex), on the one hand, it protects plants from pathogens, but on the other hand, pathogens use it as a virulence factor. Cases of bilateral exchange of small RNAs between plants and pathogens affecting them through extracellular vesicles have been described. This review discusses the role of small RNAs, as well as DCL, AGO, and RdR proteins, in the infection of plants with pathogenic fungi and oomycetes, and the prospects for using RNAi in the development of environmentally friendly, modern plant protection products.