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10-Minute Presentation

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology

10-min: PBT, Toxicology

First insights towards RNAi-based management of the pollen beetle Brassicogethes viridescens

Tuesday, November 12, 2024
9:24 AM – 9:36 AM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 226 B, PCC
Oral Presentation
The pollen beetle Brassicogethes viridescens has become an invasive pest to rapeseed crops in North America, especially Canada, the world’s most prolific grower of rapeseed. The use of conventional insecticides to control Brassicogethes spp. can lead to substantial insecticide resistance development in target pest populations and detrimental effects on non-target organisms in and around rapeseed crops. Therefore, economically- and ecologically sustainable alternatives to conventional insecticides must be explored. Given the continued increases in production efficacy- and the nucleotide sequence-specific mode of action of dsRNA pesticide products, RNA pesticides represent a potential tool for use within the management of B. viridescens. We examined the insecticidal efficacy of dsRNA against B. viridescens, using transcripts of its intragenus relative Brassicogethes aeneus as a template for dsRNA design. In B. viridescens, we observed similar sensitivities to dsRNA compared to B. aeneus. Furthermore, survival assays using three model non-target species suggest highly selective insecticidal activity of the dsRNAs examined against B. viridescens. Subsequently, we completed the first characterization of B. viridescens's transcriptome, which will allow researchers to further examine RNAi-based approaches to sustainably managing this key rapeseed pest species. Given these first insights towards sustainable RNAi-based management of B. viridescens, further work is needed to develop RNAi-based approaches to managing B. viridescens, especially in North American rapeseed systems.