Exogenous Transient RNA Interference: Applications for Insect Chemical Ecology and Functional Developmental and Evolutionary Biology Research

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Diversity and Chemical Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 February 2023) | Viewed by 2571

Special Issue Editors

National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos, Institute of Biosciences and Applications (IB-A), Athens, Greece
Interests: moths Lepidoptera insect ecology; developmental biology; evolution; pest management; Lepidoptera; functional genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: RNA interference; pest management; moths; lepidoptera; insect ecology; functional genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Over the past 30 years, RNA interference (RNAi) has evolved into a valuable tool for functional genomics in almost all eukaryotic organisms across a wide range of scientific fields. Especially for those insects that lack genome sequencing data and genetic engineering tools, RNAi research has been the center of attention, being widely proliferated among the entomological community. In insects, RNAi can be triggered by administrating synthesized RNA duplexes (double-stranded RNAs or dsRNAs) in vitro, in vivo, and in planta that target complementary insect messenger RNAs (mRNAs), resulting in targeted gene knockdown. dsRNAs can be administrated in insect cells through several routes, orally or intravenously, and even intracellularly for most genetically transformed species (e.g., Drosophila melanogaster). In this special edition, we welcome articles considering the use of RNAi in chemical ecology and evolutionary biology research in insects, including, but not limited to, the following areas: odorant- and pheromone-binding proteins and receptors, sex pheromone biosynthesis, neuropeptides, insect-repellent research, plant–insect interactions, symbiotic evolution, antiviral RNAi gene evolution, insect nuclease evolution, neuropeptidergic signaling evolution, insect wing evolution, insecticide resistance, larval comparative developmental biology and evolution, vitellogenesis, RNAi resistance and immune responses.

Dr. Dimitrios Kontogiannatos
Dr. Anna Kourti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • RNA interference
  • double-stranded RNA
  • gene knockdown
  • insect chemical ecology
  • functional and evolutionary biology
  • odorant- and pheromone-binding proteins and receptors
  • symbiotic evolution
  • RNAi resistance
  • larval comparative developmental biology
  • immune system

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 1748 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Sesamia nonagrioides (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) EcR and USP Genes as Targets for Exogenous Non-Persistent RNAi
by Dimitrios Kontogiannatos, Luc Swevers and Anna Kourti
Diversity 2021, 13(12), 677; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d13120677 - 17 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2126
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) is a transforming technology with high potential for practical applications in biology, including specific and safe insect pest control. For developing RNAi-based pest-control products no general recommendations exist and the best strategy needs to be determined for each insect pest [...] Read more.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a transforming technology with high potential for practical applications in biology, including specific and safe insect pest control. For developing RNAi-based pest-control products no general recommendations exist and the best strategy needs to be determined for each insect pest separately on a case-by-case basis. In this research, the potential of silencing the genes encoding the subunits of the ecdysone receptor complex, EcR and Ultraspiracle (USP) by RNAi was evaluated in the corn borer, Sesamia nonagrioides, using different delivery approaches and targeting different developmental stages. In conjunction with our previous research it is demonstrated that prepupae are sensitive to RNAi triggered by dsRNA injection and that feeding of dsRNA-expressing bacteria throughout S. nonagrioides’ larval life can lead to limited developmental malformations with no potent insecticidal results. Our results, consistent with previous studies, indicated a great fluctuation of exogenous RNAi effectiveness in the Lepidopteran species, suggesting that further factors should be taken into consideration in order to expand this very promising field into the ‘’RNAi-resistant’’ insect species. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop