Rnai strategies for control of whitefly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022017914-A1
Application number	US-202117385172-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 26, 2021
Priority date	Aug 29, 2018
Publication date	Jan 20, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods utilizing double strand ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) to control insects, including whiteflies. More particularly, the present invention relates to several specific synthetic dsRNAs that induce RNA interference (RNAi) in the target insects and methods of delivering the dsRNAs to them, such as allowing feeding on plants treated with, or transgenically expressing, the dsRNAs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) comprising a first strand comprising a sequence with at least 95% identity to at least 19 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 6, and a second strand complementary to the first strand.

2 . The dsRNA of claim 1 , wherein the first strand has at least 99% or 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 6.

3 . The dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein the first strand comprises SEQ ID NO: 6.

4 . The dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein the dsRNA is expressed in a plant cell.

5 . The dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein the dsRNA is distributed throughout at least part of a living plant.

6 . The dsRNA of claim 5 , wherein the plant is a tomato plant, a cassava plant, or a curcurbits plant.

7 . The dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein the dsRNA is capable of inducing ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) when ingested by an insect.

8 . The dsRNA of claim 7 , wherein the insect is Bemisia tabaci.

9 . A DNA molecule comprising a promoter functional in a host cell and a heterologous DNA encoding a dsRNA comprising a first strand and a second strand, wherein the first strand comprises a sense region with at least 95% sequence identity a portion of at least 19 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 6 and a second strand complementary to the first strand.

10 . The DNA molecule of claim 9 , wherein the host cell is a plant cell.

11 . A host cell comprising the DNA molecule of claim 9 .

12 . A plant cell, plant or seed comprising a dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 .

13 . The plant cell, plant or seed of claim 12 , wherein the plant cell, plant or seed comprises a heterologous DNA encoding a dsRNA comprising a first strand and a second strand, wherein the first strand comprises a sense region with at least 95% sequence identity a portion of at least 19 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 6 and a second strand complementary to the first strand.

14 . A method of inducing RNAi in an insect, comprising allowing the insect to feed on a plant comprising the dsRNA of claim 1 or claim 2 such that the dsRNA is ingested by the insect, thereby inducing RNAi.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the dsRNA wherein the first strand of the dsRNA comprises SEQ ID NO. 6.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the plant is a tomato plant, a cassava plant, or a curcurbits plant.

Assignees

• Us Agriculture

Inventors

• Wintermantel William M
• Kaur Navneet
• Hunter Wayne B

Classifications

• C12N2310/14

  interfering nucleic acids [NA] · CPC title

• C12N15/113

  Non-coding nucleic acids modulating the expression of genes, e.g. antisense oligonucleotides; {Antisense DNA or RNA; Triplex- forming oligonucleotides; Catalytic nucleic acids, e.g. ribozymes; Nucleic acids used in co-suppression or gene silencing (when used in plants C12N15/8218)} · CPC title

• C12N15/8286 Primary

  for insect resistance · CPC title

• Y02A40/146

  Genetically Modified [GMO] plants, e.g. transgenic plants · CPC title

• C12N15/8218 Primary

  Antisense, co-suppression, viral induced gene silencing [VIGS], post-transcriptional induced gene silencing [PTGS] · CPC title