cDNA Libraries for Virus-Induced Gene Silencing

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) exploits endogenous plant antiviral defense mechanisms to posttranscriptionally silence the expression of targeted plant genes. VIGS is quick and relatively easy to perform and therefore serves as a powerful tool for high-throughput functional genomics in plants. Combined with the use of subtractive cDNA libraries for generating a collection of VIGS-ready cDNA inserts, VIGS can be utilized to screen a large number of genes to determine phenotypes resulting from the knockdown/knockout of gene function. Taking into account the optimal insert design for VIGS, we describe a methodology for producing VIGS-ready cDNA libraries enriched for inserts relevant to the biological process of interest.