RNAi for Insect Control: Current Perspective and Future Challenges

Abstract

The research on the RNA interference (RNAi) for the control of insect pests has made significant growth in recent years. The availability of the genomic sequences of insects has further widened the horizons for the testing of this technology to various insect groups. Different modes of application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) have been tested; however, the practicability of delivery of dsRNA in insects still remains the biggest challenge. Till date, the oral delivery of dsRNA in insects is one of the efficient approaches for the practical application of this technique. The uptake of dsRNA from the insect gut is mediated either by SID-1/SID-2 transmembrane proteins or by endocytosis; however, the systemic RNAi machinery still remains to be revealed in insect species. The RNAi-mediated gene knockdown has shown striking results in different insect groups, pointing it to be the upcoming technique for insect control. However, before the successful application of this technique for insect control, some potential issues need to be resolved. This review presents the account of prospects and challenges for the use of this technology for insect control.

Diet-delivered RNAi in Helicoverpa armigera – Progresses and challenges

“…Dicer, is conserved among insects and other eukaryotes, where it plays a role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression through the miRNA pathway (Asgari, 2013;Lucas and Raikhel, 2013) and as an antiviral mechanism through the siRNA pathway (Gammon and Mello, 2015). Sensitivity to diet-delivered RNAi, however, has been shown to be highly variable between insect species (Baum and Roberts, 2014;Bellés, 2010;Katoch et al, 2013;Swevers and Smagghe, 2012), with less derived species demonstrating a more robust RNAi response compared to more derived ones, e.g. Lepidoptera (including H. armigera) (Bellés, 2010).…”

Managing the Colorado potato beetle; the need for resistance breeding

“…The recently developed RNAi approaches to combat pest insects, although still in their infancy, look very promising (Zhang et al 2015). Several difficulties still need to be overcome before their full potential in insect pest control can be exploited (Burand and Hunter 2013;Katoch et al 2013;Zhang et al 2015). The biggest challenge being public acceptance.…”

Tomato leafminer [(Tuta absoluta Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)] and its current ecofriendly management strategies: A review

“…Such biotechnological approach is currently becoming the potential application for agricultural insect pest control (Gordon and Waterhouse, 2007;Katoch et al, 2013). Tomato pinworm, T. absoluta mitigation was initiated by targeting on gene silencing approaches using small RNA interference (Price and Gatehouse, 2008;Camargo et al, 2016).…”