Double-Stranded RNA Technology to Control Insect Pests: Current Status and Challenges.

Olivier Christiaens,Ana M Vélez,Guy Smagghe,Steve Whyard

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00451

Olivier Christiaens, Ana M Vélez + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00451

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Abstract

Exploiting the RNA interference (RNAi) gene mechanism to silence essential genes in pest insects, leading to toxic effects, has surfaced as a promising new control strategy in the past decade. While the first commercial RNAi-based products are currently coming to market, the application against a wide range of insect species is still hindered by a number of challenges. In this review, we discuss the current status of these RNAi-based products and the different delivery strategies by which insects can be targeted by the RNAi-triggering double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules. Furthermore, this review also addresses a number of physiological and cellular barriers, which can lead to decreased RNAi efficacy in insects. Finally, novel non-transgenic delivery technologies, such as polymer or liposomic nanoparticles, peptide-based delivery vehicles and viral-like particles, are also discussed, as these could overcome these barriers and lead to effective RNAi-based pest control.

Highlights

Insects are our most serious competitors for food and fiber and are vectors of some of our most serious diseases
The results of this study suggest that gene duplication might explain the effectiveness of RNA interference (RNAi) in Coleoptera
The first RNAi-based products, targeting insects that are highly sensitive to dietary uptake of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), will soon be commercially available

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Insects are our most serious competitors for food and fiber and are vectors of some of our most serious diseases. Using the retained guide strand, the activated RISC complex scans cellular mRNAs, and an Argonaute protein (Ago2) within RISC cleaves transcripts with complementarity to the siRNA, silencing gene expression (Okamura et al, 2004) Due largely to this sequence specificity, growing numbers of research groups and biotechnology industries are exploring the efficacy of using dsRNA as a new source of environmentally friendly, potentially species-specific insecticides. A study demonstrated that L. decemlineata with knockdown of nucleases incur less damage on potato plants expressing dsRNA (Spit et al, 2017), similar findings were observed in the sweetpotato weevil Cylas puncticollis (Prentice et al, 2019) These studies suggest that combining the knockdown of nucleases and a lethal gene can improve the use of RNAi as a strategy for plant protection.

METHODS

CONCLUSION