Piccoli RNA interferenti, immunità ai patogeni e applicazioni biotecnologiche

RNA silencing is a recently discovered mechanism to regulate gene expression at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. It is based on sequence specific recognition of target genes or mRNAs by small RNA molecules (sRNAs) that exist in most eukaryotic genomes. They play a fundamental role in modulating almost all biological processes and mediating plant immune responses against pathogens. During the past few years, several strategies have been applied to exploit RNA silencing as a powerful tool for crop biotechnology and future breeding programmes. This review describes sRNA groups playing a critical role in plant-pathogen interactions. Moreover the most important patents related to RNA silencing in plants are reported.