Development of an RNAi Approach to Control Wireworms on PEI

Wireworm (click beetle) has becoming a devastating pest for the potato industry in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and many places in the country and around the world. It is a soil born insect that can penetrate a large number of potato tubers, degrading their quality for processing. The problem is more difficult to control after the ban of soil fumigation was in place in PEI. This proposed work is aimed at developing the RNAi technology by targeting the key genes for insects survival and development to control the insect population. The long term goal of the project is to deliver the RNAi molecules through the cover (bait) crops that are used to rotate in the potato fields. This specific proposal is the continuation of a two year project. To date, promising candidate genes have been cloned and DNA sequenced. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Gefu Wang-Pruski

Student:

Jyoti Joshi

Partner:

Prince Edward Island Potato Board

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Forestry

University:

Program: