RNAi技术在农作物育种中的应用及其环境安全性评价研究进展

The Application of RNAi Technology in Crop Breeding and Its Environmental Safety Assessment

RNA干扰是由双链RNA介导,诱发靶基因发生转录后沉默的现象。RNAi技术作为一种高效的基因抑制技术,在抗病虫、品质改良、非生物胁迫耐受性等作物遗传改良领域广泛应用。在对RNAi作物进行生态风险评估时,应主要关注脱靶效应、对非靶标生物的影响、dsRNA分子的环境归趋以及其他非预期效应。本文介绍了RNAi技术在作物育种中的应用现状,阐述了RNAi作物环境安全性评价的关键内容及程序,并对我国RNAi作物研究和安全评价做了展望。

RNA interference(RNAi) is a post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism mediated by double stranded RNA(dsRNA). As an efficient gene suppression technology,RNAi has been widely used in crop genetic improvement,such as the resistance of disease and insects,the improvement of crop quality,and the tolerance of abiotic stresses. When assessing the ecological risk assessment of RNAi crops,we should pay more attention to off-target effects,non-target effects,environmental fate of dsRNA molecules and other unexpected effects. This review summarized the application status of RNAi technology in crop breeding,discussed the key problems and procedures of ecological risk assessment of RNAi crops,and prospected the future research and safety assessment of RNAi crops in China.