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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1514614
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Natural Products: Biosynthesis, Regulation, and Function View all 10 articles

Integrating cotyledon-based virus-induced gene silencing with visual marker promises a rapid high-effective validation of gene functions in Nepeta cataria

Provisionally accepted
Zong-Xia Yu Zong-Xia Yu 1*Ruo Lv Ruo Lv 1*Bo Hong Bo Hong 1Lei Yang Lei Yang 2*
  • 1 Lushan Botanical Garden (CAS), Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China
  • 2 Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nepeta spp. generate volatile nepetalactone iridoids that have cat attractant and insect repellent activities. This differs from typical mint family (Lamiaceae) iridoids, which are non-volatile glucosides, and also varies from other species in the Nepetoideae sub-family, which do not generate iridoids. The chemistry and evolution of Nepeta make it suitable for further investigation. However, the lack of transgenic technology hampers the molecular and genetic investigations in Nepeta.Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful tool to detect gene functions in vivo.Here we constructed a modified VIGS method in Nepeta cataria, using cotyledon infiltration, with the gene silencing effect spreading to the first two pairs of true leaves. The VIGS efficiency reached as high as 84.4% and the procedure takes only three weeks. We employed this method to validate the role of geraniol 8-hydroxylase in nepetalactone biosynthesis with ChlH as a visual marker in N. cataria. The method is also applicable to N. mussinii. Thus, we developed an easy and effective VIGS approach which will be advantageous for endogenous gene studies in two Nepeta species and holds the potential for application in other plants.

    Keywords: VIGS, cotyledon infiltration, Visual marker, G8H, Nepetalactone, Catmint

    Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 24 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yu, Lv, Hong and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Zong-Xia Yu, Lushan Botanical Garden (CAS), Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China
    Ruo Lv, Lushan Botanical Garden (CAS), Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China
    Lei Yang, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, 201632, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.