25-Year Anniversary of RNAi for Pest Management: Milestones and Prospects – Foundational Science

Sponsored By 

Organizer(s)

• KN

  Ken Narva, PhD

  GreenLight Biosciences
  Triangle Park, North Carolina
• SP

  S. Reddy Palli (he/him/his)

  Department of Entomology
  University of Kentucky
  Lexington, Kentucky
• 

  Ibrahim El-Shesheny (he/him/his)

  Research Associate
  Entomology & Plant Pathology
  University of Tennessee
  Knoxville, Tennessee
• PR

  Partha Ramaseshadri (he/him/his)

  Bayer Crop Science, Missouri

With the Silver Year Anniversary of RNAi Discovery, the symposium highlights the basic science and current state of RNA interference (RNAi) in insects. This symposium will include landmark topics from basic mechanistic aspects of RNAi in arthropods.

Presentations:

• 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM Pacific

  Tools for functional genomics screens in drosophila and other arthropods
  

  Presenting Author: Norbert Perrimon (he/him/his) – Harvard University
• 8:30 AM - 8:45 AM Pacific

  Molecular mechanisms underlying RNAi in Western corn rootworm: From dsRNA uptake to systemic spread
  

  Presenting Author: Ana Velez (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: Marija Milosevic (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: Molly Darlington (she/her/hers) – Minnesota Department of Agriculture

  Co-Author: Arnubio Valencia-Jiménez – Universidad De Caldas

  Co-Author: Kristopher Silver (he/him/his) – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Blair Siegfried – Pennsylvania State University
• 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM Pacific

  The design of dsRNA sequences for pest control: From choosing the target gene to the optimization of the sequence
  

  Presenting Author: Gregor Bucher (he/him/his) – University of Göttingen

  Co-Author: Cedden Doga РUniversity of G̦ttingen, Germany

  Co-Author: Ben Büer – Bayer Crop Sciences

  Co-Author: Ralf Nauen – Bayer Crop Science

  Co-Author: Sven Geibel (he/him/his) – Bayer Crop Science
• 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM Pacific

  A platform for anti-pest nucleic acid engineering based on piRNA-mediated gene silencing.
  

  Presenting Author: Alex S. Flynt – University of Mississippi

  Co-Author: Kevin R. Quito (he/him/his) – University of Southern Mississippi

  Co-Author: Santosh Poudel – University of Mississippi

  Co-Author: Amir Raza – University of Arizona

  Co-Author: Burcu Balaban – University of Southern Mississippi

  Co-Author: Tristan Clemons – University of Southern Mississippi

  Co-Author: Judith Brown – University of Arizona
• 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific

  Innovative RNAi approaches for sustainable management of corn rootworm: Insights from midgut gene targets
  

  Presenting Author: Amit Sethi – Corteva Agriscience
• 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM Pacific

  RNAi yeast insecticides: A new class of eco-friendly insecticides for effective control of urban and crop pests
  

  Presenting Author: Molly Duman Duman Scheel (she/her/hers) – Indiana University

  Co-Author: Teresia Njoroge – Indiana University School of Medicine

  Co-Author: Akilah Stewart – Indiana University School of Medicine

  Co-Author: Majidah Hamid-Adiamoh – Indiana University School of Medicine

  Co-Author: Longhua Sun – Indiana University School of Medicine
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Poster session
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Insights into systemic RNAi: The role of extracellular vesicles in Western corn rootworm
  

  Presenting Author: Ana Velez (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Responses of non-target arthropods to the dsRNA bioinsecticide calantha and conventional insecticides targeting Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)
  

  Presenting Author: Erik Wenninger (he/him/his) – University of Idaho
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Layered double hydroxide nanosheets for improving RNA interference efficiency in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella
  

  Presenting Author: Rachel Leigh Johnson (she/her/hers) – Kansas State University
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Inhibition of EV biosynthesis disrupts systemic RNA interference responses in Diabrotica undecimpunctata
  

  Presenting Author: Festus Ajibefun – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Xiufeng Zhang – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Marija Milosevic (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: Kun Yan Zhu – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Berlin Londono-Renteria – Tulane University

  Co-Author: Yoonseong Park – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Ana Velez (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: Kristopher Silver (he/him/his) – Kansas State University
• 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Pacific

  Under the same pressure: Transcriptomic and RNAi analyses of off-target pyrethroid resistance in the ladybeetle Eriopis connexa (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
  

  Presenting Author: Ianne da Silva Nobre – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: Caio Victor de Brito Remigio – Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco

  Co-Author: Jorge B. Torres – Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco

  Co-Author: Ana Velez (she/her/hers) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  Co-Author: José Dijair Antonino – Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
• 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific

  Innovations in nano-delivery of interfering RNA to enhance RNAi efficiency in insects
  

  Presenting Author: Kun Yan Zhu – Kansas State University

  Co-Author: Rachel Leigh Johnson (she/her/hers) – Kansas State University
• 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM Pacific

  Targeting rickettsial pathogen transmission from ticks
  

  Presenting Author: Girish Neelakanta, PhD – University of Tennessee
• 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Pacific

  RNAi as an antiviral defense mechanism in lepidoptera: Can it be harnessed for pest control?
  

  Presenting Author: Luc Swevers (he/him/his) – National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos"
• 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM Pacific

  Unraveling RNAi for control of mites in agriculture and apiculture
  

  Presenting Author: Eric R.L Gordon (he/him/his) – GreenLight Biosciences

  Co-Author: Emma De Neef – GreenLight Biosciences

  Co-Author: Vladimir Zhurov – University of Western Ontario

  Co-Author: Vojislava Grbic (she/her/hers)

  Co-Author: Zachary Lamas – USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory

  Co-Author: Jay Evans – USDA-ARS

  Co-Author: Steven Smith – GreenLight Biosciences

  Co-Author: Katie Youngs – GreenLight Biosciences

  Co-Author: Ken Narva, PhD – GreenLight Biosciences, Inc.
• 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM Pacific

  From the two-spotted spider mite genome to RNAi-based acaricide: How fundamental science leads to applied products
  

  Presenting Author: Vojislava Grbic (she/her/hers)