Bacterially mediated RNAi technology to study on molt-regulating transcription factor gene CiHR3 of sugarcane stem borer, Chilo infuscatellus

Author of the article:ZHANG YuLiang**HUANG QiXingZHANG ShuZhen***WANG JianHuaWU SuRanWANG JunGangLIU ZhiXin***

Author's Workplace：Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Resources of Tropical Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Tropical

Key Words：Bacterially mediated RNAi; Chilo infuscatellus; CiHR3; bioassay

Abstract：Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum L., is one of the major agricultural crops cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions and as well as an important source of sugar in many countries and regions. In the agricultural production process, one of the factors which are responsible for the low yield of sugarcane is sugarcane borers. Sugarcane stem borer, Chilo infuscatellus, is one of the most injurious pests of sugarcane. In recent years, RNA interference technology has become a new method for protection against insect pests and improvement of crop quality. RNA interference induced by dsRNA can be used to study function of insect genes. In this research, the molt-regulating transcription factor CiHR3 was selected as the target gene. And sugarcane stem borer was fed CiHR3 dsRNA expressed in bacteria. The results showed the different instars of the sugarcane stem borer larvae has become significant abnormal and weight loss in one week. This study is aimed at researching the role of CiHR3 gene as the target gene of biological control, which causes sugarcane stem borers could not molt or their growth and develop process become abnormal, and is used as a biological control tool of sugarcane stem borers.