Patent ID: 8921655

Claim:
A method of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in Jatropha comprising: (a) inserting a nucleic acid comprising a sequence of a first desired gene to be silenced into a vector comprising a tobacco rattle virus (TRV) RNA2 sequence to produce a modified TRV RNA2 vector; (b) preparing a mixed culture of Agrobacterium comprising Agrobacterium containing a vector comprising a TRV RNA1 sequence and Agrobacterium containing the modified TRV RNA2 vector; (c) introducing the mixed culture of Agrobacterium into plant tissue of Jatropha by vacuum infiltration to produce infected Jatropha plants; and (d) growing the infected Jatropha plants for a sufficient time to produce systemic TRV infection in the infected Jatropha plants and to induce gene silencing of the desired gene.