Virus-Induced Gene Silencing as a Tool to Identify Host Genes Affecting Viral Pathogenicity

Host factors are crucial determinants of viral pathogenicity. Identifying host factors and their contributions to virus infections may lead to the development of novel antiviral strategies. The recently developed virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) approach offers a rapid means to knock down expression of a given gene in plants. VIGS can be used to determine biological function of candidate genes or to discover new genes that play a role in a given biological pathway. Here, we describe genome-wide Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS screening methods to identify host factors involved in viral pathogenicity.