@article{MoorlachSedeHermannetal.2025, author = {Moorlach, Benjamin Willem and Sede, Ana Rocio and Hermann, Katharina M. and Levanova, Alesia A. and Poranen, Minna Marjetta and Westphal, Michael and Wortmann, Martin and Stepula, Elzbieta and Jakobs-Sch{\"o}nwandt, Desiree and Heinlein, Manfred and Keil, Waldemar and Patel, Anant V.}, title = {Interpolyelectrolyte complexes of in vivo produced dsRNA with chitosan and alginate for enhanced plant protection against tobacco mosaic virus}, series = {International Journal of Biological Macromolecules}, volume = {2025}, journal = {International Journal of Biological Macromolecules}, number = {Volume 306, Part 2}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {0141-8130}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.141579}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:1010-opus4-48855}, pages = {13}, year = {2025}, abstract = {We developed a formulation of long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) using interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPECs) composed of the biopolymers chitosan and alginate, in order to protect the dsRNA from biotic and abiotic factors. Our primary objectives were to enhance stability of dsRNA against environmental nucleases and, secondarily, to mitigate the negative charge of the dsRNA, which may promote foliar uptake. Our approach relies on submicron particles with adjustable surface charge being either positive or negative. Following this approach, we obtained a high encapsulation efficiency of 94 \%. Subsequently, we investigated the influence of the charge ratio and total polymer content on the size, size distribution and ζ-potential of the IPECs. We discovered that formulating at low polymer concentrations ≤0.05 g/L with charge ratios of ≤0.9 (+/􀀀 ) and ≥ 1.25 (+/􀀀 ), respectively, produced <100 nm particles. Furthermore, the IPEC formulation protected dsRNA from enzymatic degradation by RNase III and micrococcal nuclease. In addition, we observed outstanding protection of formulated dsRNA from heat degradation. Experiments on Nicotiana benthamiana plants showed that formulated dsRNA offered protection against tobacco mosaic virus. In essence, this formulation demonstrates versatility for the production of IPECs with customizable size, surface charge, and nucleic acid content.}, language = {en} } @article{ZhengMoorlachJakobsSchoenwandtetal.2025, author = {Zheng, Ying and Moorlach, Benjamin Willem and Jakobs-Sch{\"o}nwandt, Desiree and Patel, Anant V. and Pastacaldi, Chiara and Jacob, Stefan and Sede, Ana Rocio and Heinlein, Manfred and Poranen, Minna Marjetta and Kogel, Karl-Heinz and Jose Ladera Carmona, Maria}, title = {Exogenous dsRNA triggers sequence- specific RNAi and fungal stress responses to control Magnaporthe oryzae in Brachypodium distachyon}, series = {Communications Biology}, volume = {2025}, journal = {Communications Biology}, number = {Volume 8}, publisher = {Nature Portfolio}, issn = {2399-3642}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-025-07554-6}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:1010-opus4-48877}, pages = {14}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In vertebrates and plants, dsRNA plays crucial roles as PAMP and as a mediator of RNAi. How higher fungi respond to dsRNA is not known. We demonstrate that Magnaporthe oryzae (Mo), a globally significant crop pathogen, internalizes dsRNA across a broad size range of 21 to about 3000 bp. Incubation of fungal conidia with 10 ng/μL dsRNA, regardless of size or sequence, induced aberrant germ tube elongation, revealing a strong sequence-unspecific effect of dsRNA in this fungus. Accordingly, the synthetic dsRNA analogue poly(I:C) and dsRNA of various sizes and sequences elicited canonical fungal stress pathways, including nuclear accumulation of the stress marker mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1p and production of ROS. Leaf application of dsRNA to the cereal model species Brachypodium distachyon suppressed the progression of leaf blast disease. Notably, the sequence-unspecific effect of dsRNA depends on higher doses, while pure sequence-specific effects were observed at low concentrations of dsRNA ( < 0.03 ng/μL). The protective effects of dsRNA were further enhanced by maintaining a gap of at least seven days between dsRNA application and inoculation, and by stabilising the dsRNA in alginate-chitosan nanoparticles. Overall, our study opens up additional possibilities for the development and use of dsRNA pesticides in agriculture.}, language = {en} }