D3349: Development of a yeast-based RNAi effector production and delivery platform for agriculturally relevant crop pests

The rising global demand for food necessitates improved crop protection methods to enhance agricultural productivity. In recent years, RNA interference (RNAi) has surfaced as an environmentally friendly solution for crop pest control. However, the cell-free production of dsRNA can be costly, and naked RNA molecules are highly susceptible to environmental degradation.

Renaissance BioScience Corp. is a bioengineering company that specializes in the development and optimization of microorganisms to offer biological solutions to a wide range of industry problems. Our yeast-based dsRNA production and delivery platform offers several key benefits over current RNAi-based methods, including low cost production, protection from degradation, and increased bioavailability thereby, making it a promising biocontrol agent.

Using this platform, prototype strains were developed to express RNAi effectors against two key agricultural pests, Colorado potato beetle (CPB) and Western corn rootworm (WCR). These engineered strains showed robust growth, high-level expression of dsRNA, stability, and the protective capacity required for manufacturing and oral administration to crop pests. Administering our strains orally, to CPB and WCR larvae resulted in greater than 90% mortality over 10 days. Moreover, the knockdown of many of the targeted genes led to rapid cessation of feeding, stunted development, and mortality within 3 to 6 days. These lab trials demonstrate the feasibility of using our yeast-based RNAi platform for the biocontrol of agriculturally relevant crop pests. Further development and commercialization will allow farmers to add this cost-effective environmentally friendly technology to their integrated pest management toolkit.