RNA interference (RNAi) has proven to be a very promising crop protection strategy. However, despite some promising results against pest insects such as Diabrotica virgifera, challenges have arisen that need to be addressed before RNAi could be implemented as a widely-used pest control strategy. One of these challenges is the variable efficiency that is observed in many insects, especially major pest insect orders such as Lepidoptera and Hemiptera. We found that degradation of dsRNA could contribute to the variable RNAi response in aphids. Both gut and hemolymph environments in these insects showed a strong dsRNA-degrading activity. These problems of degradation and cellular uptake could be overcome by development of better delivery systems and formulations. A considerable amount of innovation in vertebrate RNAi has already been achieved and the first insect successes using nanoparticle-coated dsRNAs have been reported as well. However, further research has to be conducted to address these issues.

DsRNA as a potential novel pest control strategy: Challenges and possibilities

248th National Meeting (2014)

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