Control of Preharvest Aflatoxin Contamination in Maize through Host Induced Gene Silencing

Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) is promising new technology in which the pathogen is directed by the host plant to down-regulate the expression of its own genes. HIGS technology does not require that the host plant express a foreign protein so food and feed produced from resistant lines of transgenic maize should be more acceptable to regulatory agencies and consumers. Silencing constructs expressed in plants can knock-down the expression of fungal genes required for successful invasion and toxin production. The goal of the proposed research is to control preharvest aflatoxin contamination in maize through identification of Aspergillus flavus genes involved in fungal growth, development and toxin production to be targeted for silencing by an ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi)-mediated mechanism in transgenic host plants.