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April 14, 2025
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Syn-tasiR-VIGS: virus-based targeted RNAi in plants by synthetic trans-acting small interfering RNAs derived from minimal precursors

Publicated to: NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH. 53 (5): gkaf183- - 2025-03-19 53(5), DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaf183

Authors:

Cisneros, AE; Alarcia, A; Llorens-Gámez, JJ; Puertes, A; Juárez-Molina, M; Primc, A; Carbonell, A
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Affiliations

Heidelberg Univ, Ctr Organismal Studies COS, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Univ Politecn Valencia, Inst Biol Mol & Celular Plantas, Consejo Super Invest Cient, Valencia 46022, Spain - Author

Abstract

Synthetic trans-acting small interfering RNAs (syn-tasiRNAs) are 21-nucleotide (nt) small RNAs designed to silence plant transcripts with high specificity. Their use as biotechnological tools for functional genomics and crop improvement is limited by the need to transgenically express long TAS precursors to produce syn-tasiRNAs in vivo. Here, we show that authentic and highly effective syn-tasiRNAs can be produced from minimal, non-TAS precursors consisting of a 22-nt endogenous microRNA target site, an 11-nt spacer, and the 21 nt syn-tasiRNA sequence(s). These minimal precursors, when transgenically expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana, generated highly phased syn-tasiRNAs that silenced one or multiple plant genes with high efficacy. Remarkably, minimal but not full-length TAS precursors produced authentic syn-tasiRNAs and induced widespread gene silencing in N. benthamiana when expressed from an RNA virus, which can be applied by spraying infectious crude extracts onto leaves in a transgene-free manner. This strategy, named syn-tasiRNA-based virus-induced gene silencing (syn-tasiR-VIGS), was further used to vaccinate plants against a pathogenic virus, resulting in complete plant immunization. Our results reveal that syn-tasiRNA precursors can be significantly shortened without compromising silencing efficacy, and that syn-tasiR-VIGS represents a versatile, scalable, and nontransgenic platform for precision RNA interference and antiviral vaccination in plants.
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Keywords

Artificial micrornasCloningDclDicer-like proteinsFunctionalityGenesMirnasSirna biogenesisSiteVectors

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 13/320, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-04:

  • WoS: 6
  • Scopus: 6
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 25.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 25 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 28.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 33 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Germany.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Cisneros, Adriana E) and Last Author (CARBONELL, ALBERTO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been CARBONELL, ALBERTO.

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Awards linked to the item

ThisworkwassupportedbygrantsorfellowshipsfromMCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033and/orbythe 'EuropeanUnionNextGenerationEU/PRTR'[PID2021-122186OB-100,CNS2022-135107andRYC-2017-21648toA.C.;PRE2019-088439,PRE2022-102565,andPRE2022-103177toA.E.C.,J.L.G.,andM.J.M,respectively],fromConsejoSuperiordeInvestigacionesCientificas(CSIC,Spain)[JAEINT_20_01312toA.P.E.],andfromEuropeanCommission[Erasmus+GrantAgreement2020-1-DE01-KA103-005653toA.P.]
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