Abstract
The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda has rapidly spread from the American continent to many other areas and caused serious damage to local agriculture. To explore a more environmentally friendly and effective strategy to control this pest, we developed a dual-effect RNAi system based on baculovirus infection and gene silencing. V-ATPase subunits A and B of FAW (SfvATPaseA and SfvATPaseB) were cloned to construct a recombinant baculoviruses (rBviruses) of Bacmid-dsSfvATPaseA and Bacmid-dsSfvATPaseB with the capacity to produce small interfering RNA. The efficacy of baculovirus-mediated RNAi was evaluated by injection delivery. The results showed that the relative expression levels of SfvATPaseA and SfvATPaseB were significantly suppressed by the constructed rBviruses, with reduction rates of 73.85% and 69.82%, respectively. The inhibition rates of larval body weight and length resulting from RNAi were more than 82% and 40%, respectively. More importantly, these two rBviruses greatly accelerated the larval death of FAW; compared to a bacmid control, the total mortality was two days less. After ten serial passages, both rBviruses exhibited excellent genetic stabilities. These results suggest that the creation of dual-effect biopesticides with both viral infection and gene silencing activities is feasible and prospective.
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This research was financially supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province, China (2022NY-061), and Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of Shaanxi Province, China (NYKJ-2022-YL(XN) 21).
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Bai, S., Jin, D., Jiang, Y. et al. Development of a recombinant baculovirus with dual effects to mediate V-ATPase interference by RNA in the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda. J Pest Sci 96, 1667–1681 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-023-01626-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-023-01626-4