title: The insect ecdysone receptor is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control.
abstract: RNA interference (RNAi) has great potential for use in insect pest control. However, some significant challenges must be overcome before RNAi-based pest control can become a reality. One challenge is the proper selection of a good target gene for RNAi. Here, we report that the insect ecdysone receptor (EcR) is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control in the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, a serious insect pest of rice plants. We demonstrated that the use of a 360 bp fragment (NlEcR-c) that is common between NlEcR-A and NlEcR-B for feeding RNAi experiments significantly decreased the relative mRNA expression levels of NlEcR compared with those in the dsGFP control. Feeding RNAi also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of offspring per pair of N. lugens. Consequently, a transgenic rice line expressing NlEcR dsRNA was constructed by Agrobacterium- mediated transformation. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the total copy number of the target gene in all transgenic rice lines was 2. Northern blot analysis showed that the small RNA of the hairpin dsNlEcR-c was successfully expressed in the transgenic rice lines. After newly hatched nymphs of N. lugens fed on the transgenic rice lines, effective RNAi was observed. The NlEcR expression levels in all lines examined were decreased significantly compared with the control. In all lines, the survival rate of the nymphs was nearly 90%, and the average number of offspring per pair in the treated groups was significantly less than that observed in the control, with a decrease of 44.18-66.27%. These findings support an RNAi-based pest control strategy and are also important for the management of rice insect pests.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xinping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Yongkang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Honggang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Zhanqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Shouheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Wenqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011987:Receptors, Steroid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011987:Receptors, Steroid; C055469:ecdysone receptor
keywords: Nilaparvata lugens; RNA interference; ecdysone receptor (EcR); pest control; transgenic rice