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 Cercospora zeina 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 C. zeina inoculum. The remaining plants were inoculated with C. zeina 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 C. zeina conidial germination percentages calculated for C. zeina germinating in vitro on culture media (assessed with light microscopy) and in planta on maize leaves (assessed with scanning electron microscopy).