Potential for RNAi-mediated insect control in crop plants

Gene silencing via RNA interference (RNAi) is a valuable tool for functional genomics research and has potential to generate commercial crop varieties with novel traits. Although the basic RNAi mechanism appears conserved among higher eukaryotes, the exact and complex contribution of RNAi to the broader picture of transcriptional regulation in specific species are still being unravelled. For simple traits, under the control of one or a few major genes, RNAi is an effective method to produce an altered crop phenotype. There is also considerable interest in the potential of 'cross-species' RNAi approaches where the silencing molecules are produced in one organism, (e.g., crop plant), but the target for gene silencing is another organism (e.g., sap-sucking insect). We have identified target genes expressed in aphid guts and are producing GM wheat plants synthesising double-stranded RNAs that we hypothesise will silence the target gene and negatively affect the viability of feeding aphids.