Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and confocal microscopy data describing cell penetrating peptide-mediated delivery of gene silencing agents to the invasive common reed Phragmites australis

These data describe delivery of novel gene silencing agents (GSAs) to leaf tissue of the invasive common reed Phragmites australis ssp. australis using cell penetrating peptides (CPPs). These CPPs were tested for their ability to infiltrate P. australis leaf tissue using confocal microscopy. In addition, a series of novel gene silencing agents targeting a putative phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene were developed including twelve antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), five artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs), and amiRNA-expressing plasmids and a cassette. GSAs were applied to living P. australis plants in conjunction with cell penetrating peptides and an infiltration medium at multiple charge ratios and application frequencies. Reduced expression of PDS was then characterized using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Confocal microscopy and qPCR results are available herein.