Debugging: Strategies and Considerations for Efficient RNAi-Mediated Control of the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Abstract

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a globally important pest that is difficult to control through insecticides, transgenic crops, and natural enemies. Post-transcriptional gene silencing through RNA interference (RNAi) has shown potential as a pest management strategy against B. tabaci. While genomic data and other resources are available to create highly effective customizable pest management strategies with RNAi, current applications do not capitalize on species-specific biology. This lack of specificity has the potential to have substantial ecological impacts. Here, we discuss both short- and long-term considerations for sustainable RNAi pest management strategies for B. tabaci, focusing on the need for species specificity incorporating both life history and population genetic considerations. We provide a conceptual framework for selecting sublethal target genes based on their involvement in physiological pathways, which has the greatest potential to ameliorate unintended negative consequences. We suggest that these considerations allow an integrated pest management approach, with fewer negative ecological impacts and reduced likelihood of the evolution of resistant populations.

The foraging Gene Is Involved in the Presence of Wings and Explorative Behaviours in Parthenogenetic Females of the Aphid Myzus persicae

“…Interestingly, the for gene has been suggested as a possible target for RNA interference-based field control strategies for the hemipteran Bemisia tabaci [ 30 ], further showing that the study of this gene may have an applicative interest for several agricultural pest insects.…”

Advances on the application of non-coding RNA in crop improvement

“…This technology is intended to protect insects from various kinds of plant production; among others, the western corn rootworm Diabrotica virgifera, the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera, and the tobacco hawk Manduca sexta (Renyi and Jian-kang, 2014). Transgenic tobacco lines expressing dsRNA of v-ATPase and leading to whitefly mortality rate (Thakur et al, 2014) transcript level of goal genes in Bemisia tabaci at more than 70% mortality was observed (Raza et al, 2016;Shelby et al, 2020).…”

Optimizing Efficient RNAi-Mediated Control of Hemipteran Pests (Psyllids, Leafhoppers, Whitefly): Modified Pyrimidines in dsRNA Triggers

“…RNAi-based studies in whiteflies show significant knockdown of a wide set of gene targets, with reviews by Kaur et al (2020) [119], Luo et al (2017) [24] and others (e.g., and references therein: [120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128]. The earliest RNAi in whitefly, B. tabaci, used dsRNA's of actin, BtSnap and chickadee [129].…”