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Ostrinia nubilalis is an important agricultural pest highly destructive to many crops. Ostrinia nubilalis larvae cause significant agricultural damage to corn by eating many parts of the corn's body, causing the corn to fail to produce seed and reducing corn yields. Ostrinia nubilalis also lays eggs on corn, and the larvae eat the stalks, killing the plant. If the larvae remain in the field and the farmer plants peas in the same field and then potatoes a year later, all crops are at risk of infection, resulting in reduced or no crop yields.
Ostrinia nubilalis has become one of the major pests in producing crops such as corn, etc. Lifeasible provides CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing services that can knock out specific genes in the larvae of Ostrinia nubilalis to enable pest control.
| Editable genes | Relevant traits exhibited after editing |
| ATP binding cassette subfamily C2 (ABCC2) | Transgenic Zea mays can express insecticidal toxins, such as Cry1Fa from Bacillus thuringiensis, for safe and sustainable pest management. The presence of Cry1Fa resistance alleles in Ostrinia nubilalis could be tested by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutations in the ABCC2 gene.
Figure 1. Representative diagram of the predicted Cry1Fa-susceptible ABCC2 protein structure and location of the SNPs in the Cry1Fa-resistant ABCC2 protein in Ostrinia nubilalis. (Farhan, Y., et al, 2023) |
| Abdominal-A (Abd-A), Ultrabithorax (Ubx) | Abd-A and Ubx are homologous genes that determine the identity and morphology of the insect thorax and abdomen. Knocking out Abd-A and Ubx in Ostrinia nubilalis resulted in the embryonic lethality to, and pleiotropic impact on, other homeotic genes, including fused segments and segmental twists during the larval stage, hollowed and incision-like segments during the pupal stage in Abd-A mutants, and defects in the wing-pad development in pupal and adult Ubx mutants. |
In addition, the Dfd, Abd-B, and Wnt1 genes have shown potential as molecular targets for the genetic control of Ostrinia nubilalis, a global pest. Therefore, we also offer gene editing services for these critical genes.
Lifeasible offers CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing services in Ostrinia nubilalis, focusing on pest control applications. We can knock out specific genes so that you can develop particular control strategies for the function of the target gene to minimize crop losses. Please feel free to contact us to submit your requirements; we will provide targeted and customized gene editing solutions.
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