NSF Award
0109737
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project seeks to modify insect viruses for the purpose of generating a new class of species-specific insect biocontrol agents. The approach will combine the emerging technique of RNA inhibition (RNAi) with existing baculovirus technology to generate recombinant insect viruses capable of targeting individual or closely related insect pests with great specificity . Standard molecular biology techniques will be used to engineer baculoviruses containing a portion of an essential host insect gene inserted between convergent promoters, which when activated by host transcription factors, will synthesize both the sense and antisense RNA strands of the inserted gene. This double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecule specifically inhibits the expression of the corresponding gene in the host insect, thereby killing the animal. Standard bioassays will be performed in which the recombinant baculovirus will be delivered to host insects by feeding or injection, and the LD50 of this virus will be compared to that for an unmodified baculovirus and for a recombinant baculovirus expressing an insect neural toxin. <br/><br/>The commercial application of this project will be in the market for insect biocontrol agents. The recombinant insect viruses have the potential to serve as highly selective and environment- friendly insect biocontrol agents that kill pest insects faster than unmodified viruses and with greater specificity than viruses expressing insecticidal toxins that also affect beneficial insects.
