An active role for endogenous β-1,3-glucanase genes in transgene-mediated co-suppression in tobacco

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is characterized by the accumulation of short interfering RNAs that are proposed to mediate sequence-specific degradation of cognate and secondary target mRNAs. In plants, it is unclear to what extent endogenous genes contribute to this process. Here, we address the role of the endogenous target genes in transgene-mediated PTGS of β-1,3-glucanases in tobacco. We found that mRNA sequences of the endogenous glucanase glb gene with varying degrees of homology to the Nicotiana plumbaginifolia gn1 transgene are targeted by the silencing machinery, although less efficiently than corresponding transgene regions. Importantly, we show that endogene-specific nucleotides in the glb sequence provide specificity to the silencing process. Consistent with this finding, small sense and antisense 21- to 23-nucleotide RNAs homologous to the endogenous glb gene were detected. Combined, these data demonstrate that a co-suppressed endogenous glucan ase gene is involved in signal amplification and selection of homologous targets, and show that endogenous genes can actively participate in PTGS in plants. The findings are introduced as a further sophistication of the post-transciptional silencing model.