RNA Interference (RNAi) in Functional Genomics of Wheat

Post-genomic era of biology is faced with a major challenge in deciphering the gene function out of enormous amount of data generated by NGS technology, in addition to large number of EST sequences, available in the public domain. Among many approaches, one important approach is to knock out the gene and analysis of the visible effect of loss of gene function. RNA interference (RNAi), as a reverse genetic approach currently in use for studies of gene function, holds a great promise in this context. The efficacy of RNAi as tool for functional genomics study has already been successfully demonstrated in Caenorhabditis elegans. With the availability of comprehensive resources of genomic sequence data and knowledge of the biological mechanism of RNAi, use of RNAi in functional genomics is quickly gaining space and popularity. Results from the study of transgene-induced RNAi suggests many variables that should be considered while designing experiment to decipher gene function.