Abstract: Objective To inhibit the expression of ALP gene in Fusarium solani by RNA interference using constructed plasmid vectors and to identifiy the gene-silenced strains by detecting the expression and enzymic activities of ALP.Methods Two kinds of vectors pBC-hygro were transformed into Fusarium solani by dsRNAi.The strains we got were named after △ALP1,△ALP2,respectively.The reduction of mRNA in Fusarium solani was detected by RT-PCR. Enzymic activities were analysized using special culture medium.The gene-silenced strains ΔALP were screened out,and the strain virulence was assessed.Results The expression of mRNA of ALP in the gene-silenced Fusarium solani strains were significantly inhibited (F=184.67,P<0.01). Among the gene-silenced Fusarium solani strains, ΔALP2 achieved better inhibitory effect on enzymatic activities than other strains (q=5.276,5.463,P<0.01) did.Conclusions RNA interference in this study can significantly downregulate the expression of ALP gene in Fusarium solani.The results provide us the gene-silenced Fusarium solani strains for promoting animal experiments in vivo and exploring the mechanism of the ALP in keratitis caused by Fusarium solani.Thus we might find a new therapeutic method for curing the disease.

Key words: Fusarium solani, keratitis/fungal, alkaline serine protease/serine protease, RNA interference