Targeting a coatomer protein complex-I gene via RNA interference results in effective lethality in the pollen beetle Bra
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Targeting a coatomer protein complex‑I gene via RNA interference results in effective lethality in the pollen beetle Brassicogethes aeneus Jonathan Willow1,2 · Silva Sulg1 · Clauvis Nji Tizi Taning2 · Ana Isabel Silva3 · Olivier Christiaens2 · Riina Kaasik1 · Katterinne Prentice2 · Gabor L. Lövei4 · Guy Smagghe2 · Eve Veromann1 Received: 4 March 2020 / Revised: 6 July 2020 / Accepted: 24 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The pollen beetle Brassicogethes aeneus is a serious pest of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in Europe. Management of this pest has grown difficult due to B. aeneus’s development of resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, as well as the pressure to establish control strategies that minimise the impact on nontarget organisms. RNA interference represents a nucleotide sequence-based, and thus potentially species-specific, approach to agricultural pest control. The present study examined the efficacy of targeting the coatomer gene coatomer subunit alpha (αCOP), via both microinjection and dietary exposure to exogenous complementary dsRNA, on αCOP-silencing and subsequent mortality in B. aeneus. Beetles injected with dsRNA targeting αCOP (at 0.14 µg/mg) showed 88% and 100% mortality at 6 and 10 days post-injection, respectively; where by the same time after dietary exposure, 43%–89% mortality was observed in the 3 µg dsRNA/µL treatment, though the effect was concentration-dependent. Thus, the effect was significant for both delivery routes. In working towards RNA-based management of B. aeneus, future studies should include αCOP as a target of interest. Keywords RNAi · Brassicogethes aeneus · Meligethes aeneus · Oilseed rape · Rapeseed · COPI · Biopesticide · Coleoptera
Key message Communicated by M. Traugott . Guy Smagghe and Eve Veromann have contributed equally to this work. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01288-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users. * Jonathan Willow [email protected] * Eve Veromann [email protected] 1
Chair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
2
Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
3
Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
4
Department of Agroecology, Flakkebjerg Research Centre, Aarhus University, Slagelse, Denmark
• We examined RNAi efficacy, targeting the coatomer gene
αCOP in Brassicogethes aeneus, via both microinjection and feeding of dsRNA. • Our work represents the first demonstration of highly significant mortality in a pest insect through targeting a coatomer protein complex-I gene via feeding. • Our work further indicates B. aeneus’s sensitivity to naked dsRNA. • Future RNAi studies in this important pest species and other pest
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