The Combination of Bacillus Thuringiensis and Its Engineered Strain Expressing dsRNA Increases the Toxicity against Plutella Xylostella.

ABSTRACT

RNA interference (RNAi) has been developed and used as an emerging strategy for pest management. Here, an entomopathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was used to express the dsRNA for the control of Plutella xylostella. A vector containing a 325-bp fragment of the conserved region of P. xylostella arginine kinase gene (PxAK) flanking in two ends with the promoter Pro3α was developed and transferred into Bt 8010 and BMB171, and consequently engineered Bt strains 8010AKi and BMB171AKi expressing dsRNA of PxAK were developed. The two engineered Bt strains were separately mixed with Bt 8010 in a series of ratios, and then fed to the P. xylostella larvae. We found that 80108010AKi of 91 and 8010BMB171AKi of 73 caused a higher mortality than Bt 8010. PxAK expression levels in the individuals treated with the mixtures, 8010AKi and BMB171Aki, were lower than that in the control. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) and net reproductive rate (R0) of the population treated with 80108010AKi of 91 were lower than those of the population treated with Bt 8010 or 8010AKi. We developed a Bt-mediated insect RNAi for the control of P. xylostella and demonstrated a practical approach to integrating the entomopathogen with RNAi technique for the pest management.