The development and prospects of insect-resistant crops expressing double-strand RNAs
Wei Zhang, Shihui Li, Zaihui Zhou, Weihua Ma
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) triggered by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) has shown effectiveness against many major agricultural insect pests worldwide. With its remarkable specificity and high efficiency, RNAi holds great promise for modern pest management in agriculture. Modern plant biotechnology has advanced the use of plant-mediated RNAi for pest control, known as host-induced gene silencing (HIGS), which specifically targets essential genes in pest species. It has now been over 20 years since HIGS was first introduced. This review will summarize recent progress in developing insect-resistant crops that express dsRNA, and will discuss the future potential of this technology in agricultural pest management.