2026-05-31T16:56:21Zhttps://riuma.uma.es/rest/oai/request

oai:riuma.uma.es:10630/456422026-03-06T10:27:08Zcom_10630_2254col_10630_37953

LUCID: An Integrative Approach for Target Discovery and dsRNA Design in Plant Fungal Pathogens Jiménez-Castro, Lucía López-Laguna, Alba Fernández-Ortuño, Dolores Pérez-García, Alejandro Polonio Escalona, Alvaro Acisclo Hongos fitopatógenos Phytopathogenic fungi pose an escalating threat to global food security and ecosystem stability, as resistance and environmental concerns diminish the effectiveness of conventional fungicides. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-based fungicides offer a species-specific, eco-friendly alternative. We introduce LUCID (Locating Uncovered, conserved, and Indispensable for pathogenicity Determinants), a computational pipeline that accelerates the development of RNAi-based biofungicides by integrating target identification with dsRNA design and off-target prediction. LUCID employs a dual-branch strategy to identify both Conserved Essential Proteins (CEPs) and Conserved Non-Annotated Proteins (CNAPs), leveraging transcriptomic data and comparative genomics across diverse fungal species. Validation in Botrytis cinerea demonstrated high efficacy, with 67% of proposed targets successfully silenced and an average silencing efficiency of 96%. Additionally, coupling LUCID with advanced protein language models (PLMs) revealed a novel pathogenicity determinant in B. cinerea: a putative mediator complex protein. LUCID offers a scalable, species-agnostic framework for designing sustainable fungicides, enabling rapid, targeted control of fungal diseases with minimal ecological impact. 2026-02-12 journal article Lucía Jiménez-Castro, Alba López-Laguna, Dolores Férnandez-Ortuño, Alejandro Pérez-García, Álvaro Polonio (2026). LUCID: An Integrative Approach for Target Discovery and dsRNA Design in Plant Fungal Pathogens. Plant Biotchnology Journal. Wiley, 1-19 p. https://hdl.handle.net/10630/45642 10.1111/pbi.70526 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Attribution 4.0 International Wiley