HIGS: host-induced gene silencing in the obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis.

Powdery mildew fungi are obligate biotrophic pathogens that only grow on living hosts and cause damage in thousands of plant species. Despite their agronomical importance, little direct functional evidence for genes of pathogenicity and virulence is currently available because mutagenesis and transformation protocols are lacking. Here, we show that the accumulation in barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) of double-stranded or antisense RNA targeting fungal transcripts affects the development of the powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis.