The sweet potato weevil(Cylas formicarius)is a critical pest producing enor-mous global losses in sweet potato crops.Traditional pest management approaches for sweet potato weevil,primarily using chemical pesticides,c...The sweet potato weevil(Cylas formicarius)is a critical pest producing enor-mous global losses in sweet potato crops.Traditional pest management approaches for sweet potato weevil,primarily using chemical pesticides,causes pollution,food safety is-sues,and harming natural enemies.While RNA interference(RNAi)is a promising envi-ronmentally friendly approach to pest control,its efficacy in controlling the sweet potato weevil has not been extensively studied.In this study,we selected a potential target for controlling C.formicarius,the Troponin I gene(wupA),which is essential for muscula-ture composition and crucial for fundamental life activities.We determined that wupA is abundantly expressed throughout all developmental stages of the sweet potato weevil.We evaluated the efficiency of double-stranded RNAs in silencing the wupA gene via microinjection and oral feeding of sweet potato weevil larvae at different ages.Our find-ings demonstrate that both approaches significantly reduced the expression of wupA and produced high mortality.Moreover,the 1st instar larvae administered dswupA exhibited significant growth inhibition.We assessed the toxicity of dswupA on the no-target insect silkworm and assessed its safety.Our study indicates that wupA knockdown can inhibit the growth and development of C.formicarius and offer a potential target gene for envi-ronmentally friendly control.展开更多
基金supported from the National Key R&D Program of China(2022YFE0116500)the Shen zhen Science and Technology Program(Grant No.KQTD20180411143628272)and Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program(ASTIP).
文摘The sweet potato weevil(Cylas formicarius)is a critical pest producing enor-mous global losses in sweet potato crops.Traditional pest management approaches for sweet potato weevil,primarily using chemical pesticides,causes pollution,food safety is-sues,and harming natural enemies.While RNA interference(RNAi)is a promising envi-ronmentally friendly approach to pest control,its efficacy in controlling the sweet potato weevil has not been extensively studied.In this study,we selected a potential target for controlling C.formicarius,the Troponin I gene(wupA),which is essential for muscula-ture composition and crucial for fundamental life activities.We determined that wupA is abundantly expressed throughout all developmental stages of the sweet potato weevil.We evaluated the efficiency of double-stranded RNAs in silencing the wupA gene via microinjection and oral feeding of sweet potato weevil larvae at different ages.Our find-ings demonstrate that both approaches significantly reduced the expression of wupA and produced high mortality.Moreover,the 1st instar larvae administered dswupA exhibited significant growth inhibition.We assessed the toxicity of dswupA on the no-target insect silkworm and assessed its safety.Our study indicates that wupA knockdown can inhibit the growth and development of C.formicarius and offer a potential target gene for envi-ronmentally friendly control.
