Abstract
Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is a polyphagous insect that causes huge damage in several horticultural crops, including tomato, by sucking nutrients from the phloem and transmitting viruses. Whiteflies are particularly difficult to manage and the use of chemicals remains the common practice, which causes the development of insecticidal resistance. Thus, there is considerable interest in the introduction of resistance to whitefly by classical and molecular breeding. Here, we explored the concept of using an RNA interference construct to silence a v-ATPase gene in whiteflies interacting with transgenic tomato plants that express siRNA molecules corresponding to a fragment from the B. tabaci vATPase. PCR analyses revealed the presence of both ΔATPase and nptII transgenes in all transgenic lines. siRNA expressing lines were challenged against whitefly and revealed a mortality rate of 57.1% in transgenic line 4.4.1, while in the control the mortality was 7.6%. Mortality of 2nd instar nymphs was higher on the transgenic plants and the development of 3rd instar nymphs was slightly longer than on the control plants. Although the attraction of insects was not significantly different between treatments, the number of eggs laid by the insects on the transgenic plants was significantly lower, compared to the controls. RT-qPCR revealed a decreased expression level of endogenous v-ATPase gene in whiteflies feeding on transgenic plants. No unexpected effect was observed on the non-target insects Myzus persicae or Tuta absoluta. Results presented here may form the foundation for the generation of elite tomato varieties resistant to whitefly, a devastating insect pest.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable plants in the world, with global production estimated as 180 million tons (FAOSTAT 2019, http://www.fao.org/faostat/); due to its nutritional importance as food and source of health-promoting compounds, and to the balanced mixture of minerals and antioxidants (Dorais et al 2008)
Progenies were analyzed for the presence of the neomycin phosphotransferase II protein (NPT II) using the immunochromatographic method (Fig. 1c)
The concept of using RNA interference (RNAi) constructs to silence key genes in insect pests promotes the development of novel approaches toward plant protection in a sustainable way (Yan et al 2020)
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable plants in the world, with global production estimated as 180 million tons (FAOSTAT 2019, http://www.fao.org/faostat/); due to its nutritional importance as food and source of health-promoting compounds, and to the balanced mixture of minerals and antioxidants (Dorais et al 2008). It is a polyphagous insect that causes huge damage in hundreds of host species, including horticultural crops, such as tomato, lettuce, eggplant, cauliflower, and cucumber (Greathead 1986; Oliveira et al 2001; Shah and Liu 2013). Besides sucking nutrients from the phloem, which results in accumulation of toxic molecules leading to plant breakdown, B. tabaci transmits several plant viruses, such as begomoviruses (Geminiviridae), criniviruses (Closteroviridae), and torradoviruses (Secoviridae) (Jones 2003; Oliveira et al 2001; Navas-Castillo et al 2011) and these cause yield losses, even with a low insect population. Whiteflies are difficult to manage, due to their diversity, adaptability, rapid reproduction lifecycle, extensive host range, and the ability to quickly select populations resistant to insecticides, and to transmit several viruses. There is considerable interest in the introduction of whitefly resistance into plants by classical and molecular breeding
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