Assessment of dsRNA to control blackleg of canola

Canola in the 2nd most valuable grain crop in Australia producing 7.8 million tonnes in 2022. Blackleg is a devastating disease of canola, without control, canola cannot be produced in Australia. Blackleg is an ongoing concern as the populations constantly evolve to overcome genetic resistance and fungicides and has created new issues such as branch and pod infection (termed upper canopy infection, UCI) in response to changed growing practices. Consequently, ongoing research is required to manage this constantly changing pathogen; if blackleg knowledge is continually updated, the Australian canola industry can continue to thrive. Gene silencing is a natural mechanism by which organisms such as plants and fungi down regulate the expression of genes. Spray induced gene silencing makes use of this natural phenomenon by delivering RNA molecules that trigger the silencing of genes that would otherwise be required for normal growth of for example a pathogen. In this way RNA can be used as a fungicide, that unlike classical fungicides, has exquisite specificity to the target organism built into the sequence of the RNA molecule. Moreover, RNA molecules used as fungicides are completely biodegradable and do not suffer from residues. This project will aim to test whether the causal agent of blackleg disease of canola, Leptophaeria maculans, is amenable to control by Spray Induced Gene Silencing.