Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) has inspired insect scientists to aim toward the development of this technology for protection against insect pests. The RNAi mechanism works at the intracellular level by exploiting a mode of action specific to the expression of genes, interrupting the transcription to translation process. Many of the limitations of RNAi technology are being addressed to adapt it for insect pest application. However, most of the insect pest problems for which RNAi is being developed involve direct plant-insect interactions, primarily in monocultures. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are important agricultural pests that generally do not feed directly on crops, yet have dramatic impact on agroecosystems such as pastures, orchards, and nurseries. The application of RNAi to pest ants is complicated by the social nature of ants. Here the goal is to examine the potential application of RNAi to ant pests, especially invasive ants, which present distinct challenges with regard to delivery, targeting, efficacy, and risks.
Highlights
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular process that degrades messenger RNA, the key to protein synthesis, and gene function
A chain of events within the cell is triggered by recognition of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), and genes are activated that produce the RNAi core machinery: sets of proteins that assemble into an enzymatic apparatus called the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) [reviewed in Cooper et al (2019) and Zhu and Palli (2020)]
This apparatus disassembles the dsRNA and enables the degradation of any messenger RNA (mRNA) that is precisely identical to the dsRNA sequence
Summary
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular process that degrades messenger RNA (mRNA), the key to protein synthesis, and gene function. Subtle behavioral castes are currently being identified (Valentini et al, 2020) but generalized adult roles that are vital to the success of the colony, and logically critical to RNAi biopesticide success, are the forager and nurse worker.
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