{
  "id": 17928275,
  "title": "Comparative genomics of canonical antifungal dsRNA target genes across fungal plant pathogens: conserved siRNA-length windows define the scope for broad-spectrum spray-induced gene silencing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/comparative-genomics-of-canonical-antifungal-dsrna-target-genes",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-02T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.01.763432v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Spray-induced gene silencing, a promising biopesticide strategy, takes advantage of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) sprayed onto a crop that is then taken up by a fungal pathogen to silence an essential gene. For this approach to work, the target gene must be conserved at the level of siRNA-length, not just gene identity. Researchers examined eleven canonical antifungal dsRNA target genes of Fusarium graminearum across twelve fungal plant pathogens, representing four taxonomic classes. Out of 27,116 candidate siRNA start positions, only 2,108 (7.8%) were conserved as a perfect 21-mer in any other pathogen, with only one shared by eight or more pathogens. Conservation decreased significantly with genetic distance, with congeneric F. oxysporum being the most similar, sharing 1,209 sites, while Blumeria graminis, a reduced-genome obligate biotroph, shared only one. Beta-tubulins showed the most broadly conserved individual sites, while CYP51C was the least conserved. The analysis revealed that perfect-match conservation of canonical antifungal targets at the siRNA-length resolution is scarce and clade-limited. Therefore, a broad-spectrum dsRNA that silences multiple pathogens is only feasible within a narrow clade, typically around the genus level. This research identifies conserved windows where clade-level broad-spectrum constructs can be placed and offers a genome-guided basis for selecting antifungal dsRNA targets.",
  "summary": "Background. Spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS), in which double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) sprayed onto a crop is taken up by a fungal pathogen and silences an essential gene, is advancing as a biopesticide strategy. A recurring ambition is a broad-spectrum dsRNA: a single construct, directed at a conserved housekeeping gene, that controls several pathogens at once. Because silencing is driven by…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}