Explain the role of Agrobacterium tumefaciens in developing resistance in tobacco plant against nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Name the processes responsible for this.
By using Agrobacterium vectors, nematode-specific genes were injected into the host plants which deliver both sense and antisense RNA in the host cells. These two RNAs are complementary to each other and form a double-stranded RNA (ds RNA) that initiates RNAi and hence, silences the specific mRNA of the nematode. The parasite cannot survive in the transgenic host and so, prevents the plants from pests.
RNA interference