A hormone-activated mobile RNAi pathway defends plant stem cells from virus infection

Study on the role of Arabidopsis thaliana RDR1 and other RNAi factors in the exclusion of RNA viruses from the shoot apical meristem stem cells Overall design: WT and rdr1-1 Arabidopsis plants (Col-0 ecotype) were inoculated with TuMV-6K2:Scarlet at approx. 3.5 weeks of age. Mock inoculation with buffer only was performed as control. 16 days after inoculation, inflorescences from systemically infected flowers (terminal 1mm apex, inflorescence meristem and flower buds <1mm diameter) were harvested. Each sample (biological replicate) consists of tissue from five plants. Two biological replicates per genotype/condition were harvested. RNA was extracted with standard Trizol protocol.