Advanced in Plant Gene Silencing Methods.- Strategies for Altering Plant Traits Using Virus-Induced Gene Silencing Technologies.- Bioinformatics Tools for Achieving Better Gene Silencing in Plants.- Profiling of Small RNAs Involved in Plant-Pathogen Interactions.- RNAi-Mediated Resistance to Viruses in Genetically Engineered Plants.- Simplifying Transgene Locus Structure Through Cre-lox Recombination.- Transgene-Induced Gene Silencing in Plants.- Gene Silencing by DNA Interference in Fern Gametophytes.- Induction of Stable Epigenetic Gene Silencing in Plants Using a Virus Vector.- A Method for Validating MicroRNAs in Plants by miR-RACE.- MR VIGS: MicroRNA-Based Virus-Induced Gene Silencing in Plants.- A High-Throughput RNA Interference (RNAi)-Based Approach Using Hairy Roots for the Study of Plant-Rhizobia Interactions.- A Functional Genomics Method for Assaying Gene Function in Phytopathogenic Fungi Through Host-Induced Gene Silencing Mediated by Agroinfiltration.- An Effective and Convenient Method for the Delivery of Apple Latent Spherical Virus (ALSV)-Based Vectors into Plant Cells by Agroinoculation.- Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) for Functional Genomics in Rice Using rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) as a Vector.- Virus-Induced Gene Silencing of Fiber-Related Genes in Cotton.- Establishment of an Efficient Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) Assay in Arabidopsis by Agrobacterium-Mediated Rubbing Infection.- Virus-Induced Gene Silencing as a Scalable Tool to Study Drought Tolerance in Plants.- VIGS for Dissecting Mechanisms Involved in the Symbiotic Interaction of Microbes with Plants.- Construction of a Cotton VIGS Library for Functional Genomic Study.- Synthetic Gene Complementation to Determine Off-Target Silencing.- Construction of Mismatched Inverted Repeat (IR) Silencing Vectors for Maximizing IR Stability and Effective Gene Silencing and in Plants.

This volume provides readers with a comprehensive review of various gene silencing methodologies and its applications. It provides a historical overview of gene silencing mechanisms in plants, vectors, and strategies available for plant gene silencing, practical applications of gene silencing, bioinformatics tools, and other resources. In addition to these review chapters, this book includes methodology for virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in various different plant species, understanding plant stress responses using VIGS, miRNA identification, DNA interference, host-induced gene silencing, use of artificial miRNAs for gene silencing, high throughput RNAi, and more. Written in the highly successful Methods of Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Thorough and practical, Plant Gene Silencing: Methods and Protocols seeks to aid scientists to further understand functional relevance of target genes using gene silencing methods and use these technologies in commercial plant varieties.