Abstract
Antisense RNA technology is commonly used for the reduction of gene expression in plant cells, but the efficiency of gene silencing is not sufficient. RNA silencing (or RNA interference: RNAi) technology can effectively silence the expression of certain genes not efficiently silenced by other earlier methods, but conventional RNAi protocols are time-consuming and laborious. The construction of expression vectors for RNAi is especially tricky due to the nature of the inverted repeat structure. We believe that transient RNAi coupled with rapid transient assays should generate sufficient data to indicate gene function as shown in short-interfering RNA-based screening in mammalian cells. Here we report the recent progress in RNAi research in plant sciences and our results using transient RNAi in Coptis japonica cells to characterize the transcriptional network in alkaloid biosynthesis.
