RNA interference: Applications and advances in insect toxicology and insect pest management

Abstract

Since its discovery, RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionized functional genomic studies due to its sequence-specific nature of post-transcriptional gene silencing. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent literature and summarize the current knowledge and advances in the applications of RNAi technologies in the field of insect toxicology and insect pest management. Many recent studies have focused on identification and validation of the genes encoding insecticide target proteins, such as acetylcholinesterases, ion channels, Bacillus thuringiensis receptors, and other receptors in the nervous system. RNAi technologies have also been widely applied to reveal the role of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, carboxylesterases, and glutathione S-transferases in insecticide detoxification and resistance. More recently, studies have focused on understanding the mechanism of insecticide-mediated up-regulation of detoxification genes in insects. As RNAi has already shown great potentials for insect pest management, many recent studies have also focused on host-induced gene silencing, in which several RNAi-based transgenic plants have been developed and tested as proof of concept for insect pest management. These studies indicate that RNAi is a valuable tool to address various fundamental questions in insect toxicology and may soon become an effective strategy for insect pest management.

De novo characterization of the pine aphid Cinara pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang transcriptome and analysis of genes relevant to pesticides

“…RNAi is high specificity, efficiency, stable, transmissible and hereditary; this characteristics make it a valuable tool to address various questions in insect toxicology, as well as may become an effective strategy for management of insect pests [83]. …”

Molecular Characterization and Expression Analysis of Two Acetylcholinesterase Genes From the Small White Butterfly Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

“…Recently, it was shown that knockdown of ace1 genes led to increased sensitivity of insects to AChE insecticides (Revuelta et al 2009, 2011, Lu et al 2012b), and that silencing ace1 and/or ace2 impacted insect development (He et al 2012, Lu et al 2012b, Salim et al 2017). This suggests that these genes could be utilized for developing RNAi-based pest control strategies (Kim et al 2015). Prior to this study, ace genes had been isolated from a great number of insect species (Kim and Lee 2018), but little was known about ace genes in P. rapae .…”

Genetically modified soybean expressing insecticidal protein (Cry1Ac): Management risk and perspectives

“…In Brazil, for example, studies demonstrated a high efficiency of the Bt soybean strain DAS-81419-2 (expressing two proteins) in the reduction of damage caused by A. gemmatalis, C. includens, H. virescens, and S. cosmioides during the vegetative and reproductive stages (Marques et al 2016). Recent studies have suggested the use of RNA interference as a promising alternative or complementary strategy for pest control and management (Asokan et al 2014;Kim et al 2015;Fishilevich et al 2016;Yu et al 2016;Ni et al 2017). …”