SBIR Phase II: Bioparticle delivery of dsRNA: A novel pest management solution for control of fall armyworm

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响将是开发一个平台，向不断增长的人口提供定向、安全和有效的生物杀虫剂，然而全球化、单一栽培和气候变化的综合影响增加了害虫和植物病原体的威胁。虽然合成杀虫剂提供了一种相对有效的作物保护手段，但使用杀虫剂会对健康造成许多有害影响，每年因对化学杀虫剂产生抗药性的害虫造成的损害而损失价值数十亿美元的农作物。广泛采用合成杀虫剂的替代品可能会大幅降低使用杀虫剂的间接经济成本，一项研究估计，美国每年的环境和社会成本为100亿美元。该项目寻求开发第一种基于RNAi的杀生剂，用于控制秋季粘虫，这是一种经济破坏性的入侵害虫，威胁全球粮食供应，并正在对美洲主要形式的转基因玉米产生抗药性。候选双链核糖核酸将被设计和测试，一组秋季粘虫杀生剂原型将通过喂养试验进行分析，以确定表现最好的五个原型。然后，这五个原型将在温室中进行测试，以确定它们是否能够减少因播种的秋季粘虫感染而对玉米植株造成的损害。通过温室测试确定的前两个原型将进入对玉米接种和自然发生的侵染的小块田间测试。将对每个原型进行三种不同的应用配方的田间测试，并将结果与未经处理的植物和三种常用杀虫剂进行比较。这项工作将与田纳西大学合作进行。第二阶段的成功完成将展示这种新型杀生剂在野外控制秋季陆军蠕虫的能力，告知应用方法，并确定一到两个最终候选者，以进一步开发和进行大规模现场测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be the development of a platform for delivering targeted, safe, and effective biological pesticides to the growing population, yet the combined effects of globalization, monoculture, and climate change have increased the threat of insect pests and phytopathogens. While synthetic pesticides offer a relatively effective means of crop protection, there are many detrimental health effects from pesticide use and several billion dollars worth of crops are lost each year due to damage caused by pests that have developed resistance to chemical pesticides. Widespread adoption of an alternative to synthetic pesticides may drastically reduce the indirect economic costs of pesticide use, estimated in one study at $10 billion in environmental and societal costs in the United States each year. This project seeks to develop the first RNAi-based biocide for control of the fall armyworm, an economically devastating invasive pest that threatens the global food supply and that is developing resistance to the main form of genetically modified corn in the Americas. Candidate double stranded ribonucleic acids will be designed and tested, and a panel of fall armyworm biocide prototypes will be analyzed with feeding assays to identify the five best performing prototypes. These five prototypes will then be tested in the greenhouse for their ability to reduce damage in corn plants caused by seeded fall armyworm infestations. The top two prototypes identified via greenhouse testing will then advance to small-plot field testing on both inoculated and naturally occurring infestations in corn. Three different application formulations will be field-tested per prototype and the results will be compared to non-treated plants and three commonly used insecticides. This work will be performed in collaboration with the University of Tennessee. Successful completion of Phase II will demonstrate the ability of this novel biocide to control fall army worms in the field, inform application approach, and identify one or two final candidates for further development and progression to large scale field testing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.