Journal
ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 104, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/arch.21665
Keywords
dsRNA; feeding; oviposition rate; sex peptide receptor
Categories
Funding
- ESF
- Hellenic National Resources
- DBB University of Thessaly
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Insect pests can cause crop damage in yield or quality, resulting in profit losses for farmers. The primary approach to control them is still the use of chemical pesticides resulting in significant hazards to the environment and human health. Biological control and the sterile insect technique are alternative strategies to improve agriculture protection. However, both strategies have significant limitations. A newly introduced approach that could be both effective and species-specific is the RNA interference mechanism. One key point for the success of this strategy is the delivery method of double-strand RNA (dsRNA) to the insects. A method of dsRNA delivery to insects with potential use in the field is the oral delivery, feeding the insects engineered microorganisms that produce dsRNA. Here, we present the first protocol for dsRNA feeding using modified bacteria, in the olive fruit fly, the most important insect pest of cultivated olives. We chose to target the sex peptide receptor gene. The sex peptide receptor interacts with the sex peptide, a peptide that is responsible for the postmating behavior in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. Feeding the female olive fruit fly with bacteria that produced dsRNA for the sex peptide receptor gene resulted in the development of female insects with significantly lower oviposition rates. Administration of dsRNA producing bacteria in insect diet against target genes that lead to genetic sexing or female-specific lethality could be added in the armory of control methods.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available