RNA Interference and Its Potential for Developing New Control Methods Against Insect Pests

RNA interference (RNAi) is a novel mechanism for the regulation of gene expression that was first discovered in the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Since its discovery, there has been an explosion in the number of publications that described the mechanisms by which RNAi is activated and regulated in many organisms. Major advancements in this field include the discovery that double-stranded RNA molecules are a major factor that drives the initiation of the process, discovering the role of small interfering RNAs, mechanisms of RNA cleavage by Dicer and the discovery of the first Argonaute proteins in model organisms such as C. elegans, Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian cell lines. Despite these important discoveries in model organisms, non-model organisms still suffer major lack in understanding their RNAi machinery, especially the components of the pathway and the enzymes involved. There is a great potential of RNAi in studying gene function and regulation and complementing functional genomics approaches. RNAi might foster the discovery of new gene functions and unravel new technologies for the suppression of the harmful traits caused by disease agents such as viruses, pathogenic bacteria, fungi and insect pests in animal and plant systems. However, a major challenge remains the technologies by which RNAi signals can be delivered and triggered, while preventing non specific effects.