An increasingly exciting option for control of plant pests is the use of RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies to trigger the downregulation of target genes. The improvement offered by RNAi over conventional pesticides is species specificity. Unfortunately, differences in RNAi activity between orders of pests results in major barriers to delivering the required molecules, many of which seem to exist primarily in the digestive tract. While RNAi-based pesticides have been successful in controlling some pest species, these barriers have prevented control in many others. Herein, we report interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPECs) consisting of poly[N-(3-guanidinopropyl)methacrylamide] (pGPMA) and dsRNA that are capable of inducing highly efficient gene knockdown in lepidopteran pests that are typically refractory to ingested RNAi. Because the cationic polymers exhibit no toxicity towards the live animals while efficiently delivering dsRNA to lepidopteran cells both in vitro and in vivo, these IPECs offer great promise toward enabling RNAi-based pesticides across many arthropod species.

Guanidinium-functionalized polymer carriers enable RNAi in resistant insect pests

255th National Meeting (2018)

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