Shu Fu1,2,3,4, Zhaoxia Liu1,2,3,4, Jinzhi Chen1,2,3,4, Gengxiao Sun1,2,3,4, Yingxia Jiang1,2,3,4, Miaowen Li1,2,3,4, Lei Xiong1,2,3,4, Shaoping Chen1,2,3,4, Yuqing Zhou1,2,3,4, Muhammad Asad1,2,3,4, Guang Yang1,2,3,4. 1. State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Applied Ecology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China. 2. Joint International Research Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control, Ministry of Education, Fuzhou, China. 3. Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management for Fujian-Taiwan Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Fuzhou, China. 4. Key Laboratory of Green Pest Control, Fujian Province University, Fuzhou, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Plutella xylostella is a devastating agricultural insect pest of cruciferous plants, including crops. Plant-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) is currently being developed for plant protection. In this study, we investigated the response of P. xylostella exposed to transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants that expressed double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting P. xylostella genes of arginine kinase (PxAK) and integrin β1 subunit (Pxβ). RESULTS: Transgenic plants producing dsRNAs of the 384-bp fragment of PxAK (dsAK plants), the 497-bp fragment of Pxβ (dsβ plants), and the 881 bp of the combination of both genes (dsAK-β plants) were generated and verified. Insect bioassay with these transgenic plants showed that the development of P. xylostella was affected, causing longer developmental time, and lower pupal weight and pupation rate. P. xylostella mortality rates were 25.0% when exposed to dsAK plants, 22.5% with dsβ plants, and 30.0% with dsAK-β plants, which were all higher than 7.5% for the wild-type plant. PxAK and Pxβ in P. xylostella were suppressed by 26.6-79.7% at the transcription level by the transgenic plants. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that plant-mediated RNAi targeting single gene or both PxAK and Pxβ may have the potential to control P. xylostella.
BACKGROUND:Plutella xylostella is a devastating agricultural insect pest of cruciferous plants, including crops. Plant-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) is currently being developed for plant protection. In this study, we investigated the response of P. xylostella exposed to transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants that expressed double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting P. xylostella genes of arginine kinase (PxAK) and integrin β1 subunit (Pxβ). RESULTS: Transgenic plants producing dsRNAs of the 384-bp fragment of PxAK (dsAK plants), the 497-bp fragment of Pxβ (dsβ plants), and the 881 bp of the combination of both genes (dsAK-β plants) were generated and verified. Insect bioassay with these transgenic plants showed that the development of P. xylostella was affected, causing longer developmental time, and lower pupal weight and pupation rate. P. xylostella mortality rates were 25.0% when exposed to dsAK plants, 22.5% with dsβ plants, and 30.0% with dsAK-β plants, which were all higher than 7.5% for the wild-type plant. PxAK and Pxβ in P. xylostella were suppressed by 26.6-79.7% at the transcription level by the transgenic plants. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that plant-mediated RNAi targeting single gene or both PxAK and Pxβ may have the potential to control P. xylostella.