Open AccessThe effect of silencing 20E biosynthesis relative genes by feeding bacterially expressed dsRNA on the larval development of Chilo suppressalis
Author(s) -
Jian Zhu,
Yongcheng Dong,
Ping Li,
Changying Niu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep28697
Subject(s) - chilo suppressalis , biology , rna silencing , rna interference , transcriptome , gene silencing , gene , brown planthopper , gene expression , pest analysis , genetics , larva , rna , botany
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 ds spook, ds ptth , ds torso , and ds nm-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.