Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (9): 4-10.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2024-0472

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Application and Risk of RNAi Technology in Potato Insect Pest Management

WANG Ke-ran1,2(), YAN Jun-jie1, LIU Jian-feng2, GAO Yu-lin1()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193
    2. College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002
  • Received:2024-05-20 Online:2024-09-26 Published:2024-10-12
  • Contact: GAO Yu-lin E-mail:wkr120120120@163.com;gaoyulin@caas.cn

Abstract:

Insect pest damages to crops is a threat to global food security, farmers urgently need safe and effective crop protection tools to sustainably have yields that meet ever-increasing global demand. RNAi(RNA interference)technology is a molecular biology technique for post-transcriptional regulation of gene silencing. Its principle is based on the binding of small double-stranded RNA molecules composed of 19-25 nucleotide pairs to the target mRNA, which triggers the degradation of the mRNA and thus leads to the silencing of the target gene. RNAi technology has been widely applied in crop pest management, focusing mainly on the prevention and control of Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera pests targeting potatoes. On December 22, 2023, the world's first RNAi biopesticide was officially approved for commercialization. It is used to control the potato beetle, an internationally recognized important and devastating quarantine pest of potatoes, which is becoming increasingly resistant to pesticides. It is the world's first sprayable RNA biopesticide allowed for commercial use on crops, and it is a landmark green control of potato pests. While products based on RNAi technology are used for agricultural pest control, their resistance, off-target effects and potential risks to environmental safety still need to be considered. This article provides a comprehensive review on the feasibility of applying RNAi technology in potato insect pest management, its applications, and potential risks, aiming to elaborate on the status and prospects of RNAi technology in potato pest management, and provide theoretical references for integrating RNAi technology into the comprehensive management for potato pest management.

Key words: RNA interference, potato insect pest, integrated pest managemant(IPM), insect resistance management(IRM), risk assessment