Crop protection technologies using RNA interference - a proof-of-concept

昆虫通常被认为是我们在食物和纤维方面最严重的竞争对手，它们对植物造成损害，传播植物病原体，并导致储存的食物、纤维和木制品腐烂，从而降低作物产量。据估计，在大多数国家，尽管我们努力控制最有害的害虫，但昆虫消耗或破坏的国民生产总值占国民生产总值的10%至20%。我们的防治措施大多是使用广谱合成除害剂来防治害虫。不幸的是，这些化学物质不仅能杀死害虫，还能杀死非目标的有益昆虫，并对其他无脊椎动物和脊椎动物产生不利影响。这项短期研究的主要目标是探索利用RNA干扰技术开发物种特异性作物保护方法的可能性。RNAi是一项可以彻底改变害虫控制方法的新技术，因为它可以选择性地沉默害虫体内的特定基因，但不会影响与害虫没有相同基因序列的其他物种。由于每个物种都是由其遗传密码的独特性来定义的，因此该技术可以适用于控制不同种植系统中的许多不同害虫。与我们的工业伙伴合作，我们的目标是开发新一代农药，既能有效地保护我们的作物免受最严重的昆虫竞争对手的侵害，又不会伤害我们农业生产区内外的许多有益的非目标物种。这些技术提供的植物虫害保护预计将提高作物产量，减少储存期间的损失，从而增加加拿大农民和农业工业的盈利能力。加拿大是世界上最大的农业生产国和出口国之一，开发对环境更安全的农业害虫控制方法不仅将使加拿大成为农业生物技术领域的领导者，而且将确保加拿大的农产品得到所有市场的广泛接受。

Insects are often considered our most serious competitors for food and fiber, reducing crop yields by inflicting damage to plants, propagating plant pathogens, and causing decay in stored food, fiber, and wood products. It has been estimated that insects consume or damage between 10 and 20 % of the gross national products of most nations, despite our efforts to control the most noxious pests. Most of our control measures rely upon the use of broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides to control the pests. Unfortunately, these chemicals not only kill pests, but they also kill non-target beneficial insects, and can adversely affect other invertebrate and vertebrate species. The primary goal of this short-term research is to explore the possible use of RNA interference technology to develop species-specific crop protection methods. RNAi is a new technology that could revolutionize our approach to pest insect control, as it can selectively silence specific genes within the pests, but without affecting other species that do not share the exact gene sequences as the pests. As each species is defined by the uniqueness of its genetic code, this technology could be adapted to control many different pests in different cropping systems. In collaboration with our industrial partner, we aim to develop a new generation of pesticides that still effectively protects our crops from our most serious insect competitors, but does not harm the many beneficial, non-target species within and around our agriculture production zones. Plant protection from pests afforded by these technologies is expected to increase crop yields and reduce losses during storage, and consequently, increase profitability for Canada farmers and the agricultural industry. Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world, and the development of environmentally-safer methods to controlling agricultural pests will not only place Canada among the leaders in the agricultural biotechnology sector, but will ensure that Canada's agricultural products are well accepted by all markets.