Bacteria-Based Double-Stranded RNA Production to Develop Cost-Effective RNA Interference Application for Insect Pest Management

Since the discovery of the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism, it has been widely used in the fields of gene function, biomedicine, and crop pest control. In the direction of agricultural application, this technology is highly expected, especially in the field of pest control, which is called “the third revolution in the history of pesticides”. Currently, RNA biopesticides are developing rapidly all over the world. A genetically modified product (MON87411) has been approved for marketing, and a large number of agricultural companies are developing products based on direct spraying RNA biopesticides and submitting them for regulatory approval. The biggest problem that has emerged for spray RNA biopesticides is the technology for large-scale and low-cost production of dsRNA. At present, the bacterial fermentation production technology can realize large-scale dsRNA production with a yield of 4.23~182 mg/L bacterial solution. This article describes the experimental protocol for dsRNA production technology based on bacterial fermentation.