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Review
. 2017 Jul;23(3):487-501.
doi: 10.1007/s12298-017-0443-x. Epub 2017 Apr 29.

RNAi technology: a new platform for crop pest control

B Mamta  1 , M V Rajam  1
Affiliations
Review

RNAi technology: a new platform for crop pest control

B Mamta et al. Physiol Mol Biol Plants. 2017 Jul.

Abstract

The insect pests are big threat in meeting the food demands for future generation. The present pest control strategies, including the existing transgenic approaches show certain limitations and are not completely successful in limiting the insect pests. However, the sequence-specific gene silencing via RNA interference (RNAi) holds a great promise for effective management of agricultural pests. RNAi is naturally occurring conserved process responsible for gene regulation and defense against pathogens. The efficacy of RNAi varies among different insect orders and also depends upon various factors, including the target gene selection, method of dsRNAs delivery, expression of dsRNAs and presence of off-target effects. RNAi-mediated silencing of different insect genes involved in various physiological processes was found to be detrimental to insects growth, development and survival. In this article, we have reviewed the potential of RNAi-based strategies for effective management of insect pests. We have also discussed the various parameters, which are to be considered for host-induced RNAi-mediated control of insect pests without producing any effect on non-target organisms and environment.

Keywords: Biotic stress; Gene silencing; Insect pest management; RNA interference; Transgenic plants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Use of RNAi as a future insecticide (Source adopted from Palli 2014)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Host-induced RNAi strategy for insect pest control
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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