文献类型： 外文期刊

作者： Omolehin, Olanike ¹ ; Raruang, Yenjit ¹ ; Hu, Dongfang ¹ ; Han, Zhu-Qiang ³ ; Promyou, Surassawadee ⁴ ; Brown, Robert L. ² ; Wei, Qijian ² ; Rajasekaran, Kanniah ² ; Cary, Jeffrey W. ² ; Wang, Kan ⁵ ; Jeffers, Dan ⁶ ; Chen, Zhi-Yuan ¹ ;

作者机构： 1.Louisiana State Univ, Dept Plant Pathol & Crop Physiol, Agr Ctr, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA

2.USDA ARS, Southern Reg Res Ctr, New Orleans, LA 70124 USA

3.Guangxi Acad Agr Sci, Cash Crops Res Inst, Nanning 530007, Peoples R China

4.Kasetsart Univ, Fac Nat Resources & Agroind, Chalermphrakiat Sakonnakhon Prov Campus, Sakonnakhon 47000, Thailand

5.Iowa State Univ, Dept Agron, Ames, IA 50011 USA

6.USDA ARS, Corn Host Plant Resistance Res Unit, Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA

关键词： aflatoxin; Aspergillus flavus; O-methyl transferase (omtA); AflP; host-induced gene silencing; aflatoxin resistance; maize transformation; small RNA; develop transgenic maize lines; RNAi

期刊名称：TOXINS （ 影响因子：4.0； 五年影响因子：4.5 ）

ISSN：

年卷期： 2025 年 17 卷 1 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Maize is one of the major crops that are susceptible to Aspergillus flavus infection and subsequent aflatoxin contamination, which poses a serious health threat to humans and domestic animals. Here, an RNA interference (RNAi) approach called Host-Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS) was employed to suppress the O-methyl transferase gene (omtA, also called aflP), a key gene involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis. An RNAi vector carrying part of the omtA gene was introduced into the B104 maize line. Among the six transformation events that were positive for containing the omtA transgene, OmtA-6 and OmtA-10 were self-pollinated from T1 to T4, and OmtA-7 and OmtA-12 to the T6 generation. These four lines showed at least an 81.3% reduction in aflatoxin accumulation at the T3 generation under laboratory conditions. When screened under field conditions with artificial inoculation, OmtA-7 at T5 and T6 generations and OmtA-10 at T4 generation showed a reduction in aflatoxin contamination between 60% and 91% (p < 0.02 to p < 0.002). In order to develop commercial maize lines with enhanced aflatoxin resistance, the omtA transgene in OmtA-7 was introduced into three elite inbred lines through crossing, and the resulting crosses also exhibited significantly lower aflatoxin accumulation compared to crosses with non-transgenic controls (p < 0.04). In addition, high levels of omtA-specific small RNAs were only detected in the transgenic kernel and leaf tissues. These results demonstrate that suppression of omtA through HIGS can enhance maize resistance to aflatoxin contamination, and this resistance can be transferred to elite backgrounds, providing a viable and practical approach to reduce aflatoxin contamination in maize.