Plant-mediated RNAi of a gap gene-enhanced tobacco tolerance against the Myzus persicae

Plant-mediated RNAi has been developed as a powerful weapon in the fight against agricultural insect pests. The gap gene hunchback (hb) is of crucial importance in insect axial patterning and knockdown of hb is deforming and lethal to the next generation. The peach potato aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), has many host plants and can be found throughout the world. To investigate the effect of plant-mediated RNAi on control of this insect, the hb gene in M. persicae was cloned, plant RNAi vector was constructed, and transgenic tobacco expressing Mphb dsRNA was developed. Transgenic tobacco had a different integration pattern of the transgene. Bioassays were performed by applying neonate aphids to homozygous transgenic plants in the T2 generation. Results revealed that continuous feeding of transgenic diet reduced Mphb mRNA level in the fed aphids and inhibited insect reproduction, indicating successful knockdown of the target gene in M. persicae by plant-mediated RNAi.