Fig. 4

AGO2 gene involved in the DRB4-independent DCL4-mediated antiviral defense in Arabidopsis. a Images of plants recorded at 25 dpi. At 13 dpi, the photobleaching is observed in the upper leaves of all plants inoculated with CPB1B-based VIGS vectors. b qRT-PCR analysis of PDS and AGO2 expression levels in the upper uninoculated leaves of CPB1B-based VIGS vector-infected plants at 14 dpi. Expression is normalized against AtActin1 gene was used as an internal control. All values represent means ± SD from three independent biological replicates and asterisks denote significantly different from the control group (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). c The viral RNA accumulation levels in the upper uninoculated leaves of CPB1B-based VIGS vector-infected plants at 14 dpi. EB ethidium bromide-stained Northern gel, gRNA: genomic RNA, sgRNA subgenomic RNA