Gene silencing mediated by dsRNA reduces grey leaf spot disease in maize

The dataset contains the analysis of grey leaf spot disease severity scores for two spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) trials performed on B73 maize infected with <em>Cercospora zeina</em> conidia. Disease severity was measured on a scale of S1 - S8, where S1 denotes no symptoms and S8 indicates the most severe disease symptoms. A positive disease control contained only <em>C. zeina</em> inoculum. The remaining plants were inoculated with <em>C. zeina</em> conidia and treated with either GFP double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a negative treatment control, or the test construct 3Cz dsRNA. In addition, this dataset includes the mean <em>C. zeina</em> conidial germination percentages calculated for <em>C. zeina</em> germinating <em>in vitro</em> on culture media (assessed with light microscopy) and <em>in planta</em> on maize leaves (assessed with scanning electron microscopy).