title: The effect of silencing 20E biosynthesis relative genes by feeding bacterially expressed dsRNA on the larval development of Chilo suppressalis.
abstract: RNA interference (RNAi) is a robust tool to study gene functions as well as potential for insect pest control. Finding suitable target genes is the key step in the development of an efficient RNAi-mediated pest control technique. Based on the transcriptome of Chilo suppressalis, 24 unigenes which putatively associated with insect hormone biosynthesis were identified. Amongst these, four genes involved in ecdysteroidogenesis i.e., ptth, torso, spook and nm-g were evaluated as candidate targets for function study. The partial cDNA of these four genes were cloned and their bacterially expressed dsRNA were fed to the insects. Results revealed a significant reduction in mRNA abundance of target genes after 3 days. Furthermore, knocked down of these four genes resulted in abnormal phenotypes and high larval mortality. After 15 days, the survival rates of insects in dsspook, dsptth, dstorso, and dsnm-g groups were significantly reduced by 32%, 38%, 56%, and 67% respectively, compared with control. Moreover, about 80% of surviving larvae showed retarded development in dsRNA-treated groups. These results suggest that oral ingestion of bacterially expressed dsRNA in C. suppressalis could silence ptth, torso, spook and nm-g. Oral delivery of bacterially expressed dsRNA provides a simple and potential management scheme against C. suppressalis.
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science &Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science &Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Pest Control Division, National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Ministry of Agricultural, Beijing 100125, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science &Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Chang-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Niu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli; D015870:Gene Expression; D020868:Gene Silencing; D007814:Larva; D009036:Moths / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded
chemical_list: D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D004440:Ecdysone