Cotton plants expressing CYP6AE14 double-stranded RNA show enhanced resistance to bollworms.
RNA interference (RNAi) plays an important role in regulating gene expression in eukaryotes. Previously, we generated Arabidopsis and tobacco plants expressing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting a cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) P450 gene, CYP6AE14. Bollworms fed on transgenic dsCYP6AE14 plants showed suppressed CYP6AE14 expression and reduced growth on gossypol-containing diet (Mao et al., in Nat Biotechnol 25: 1307-1313, 2007). Here we report generation and analysis of dsRNA-expressing cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) plants. Bollworm larvae reared on T2 plants of the ds6-3 line exhibited drastically retarded growth, and the transgenic plants were less damaged by bollworms than the control. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that the CYP6AE14 expression level was reduced in the larvae as early as 4 h after feeding on the transgenic plants; accordingly, the CYP6AE14 protein level dropped. These results demonstrated that transgenic cotton plants expressing dsCYP6AE14 acquired enhanced resistance to cotton bollworms, and that RNAi technology can be used for engineering insect-proof cotton cultivar.
National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, People's Republic of China. ybmao@sibs.ac.cn
Ying-Bo
YB
Mao
Xiao-Yuan
XY
Tao
Xue-Yi
XY
Xue
Ling-Jian
LJ
Wang
Xiao-Ya
XY
Chen
D000818:Animals; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003368:Gossypium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D006072:Gossypol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D006072:Gossypol