Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated RNA Warfare: A New Frontier in Sustainable Crop Protection

¹ Başkent University, Institute for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ankara, Türkiye
² Başkent University, Kahramankazan Vocational School, Department of Food Processing, Ankara, Türkiye
³ Başkent University, Faculty of Science and Letters, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ankara, Türkiye.

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

The increasing pressure of plant diseases, pesticide resistance and environmental degradation has created an urgent need for sustainable crop protection strategies. Plant extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as nanoscale, membrane-bound carriers that mediate intercellular and cross-kingdom communication. In plant-pathogen interactions, EVs may function as vehicles for "RNA warfare", enabling plants to deliver regulatory RNAs into pathogens and suppress virulence-associated genes [1, 3]. Conversely, fungal pathogens can exploit EV-mediated RNA transport to interfere with host immune responses [2]. This mini-review summarizes the emerging role of EV-mediated RNA communication in plant-pathogen interactions, critically evaluates current mechanistic and translational limitations, and discusses its potential as a conceptual basis for RNA-based biopesticides, immune-priming tools and biologically derived nanocarriers for sustainable crop protection [5, 6].