CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knockout of the abdominal-A homeotic gene in fall armyworm moth (Spodoptera frugiperda).

ABSTRACT: The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is an important pest of maize in the Americas and has recently been introduced into Africa. Fall armyworm populations have developed resistance to control strategies that depend on insecticides and transgenic plants expressing Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. The study of various resistance mechanisms at the molecular level and the development novel control strategies have been hampered by a lack of functional genomic tools such as gene editing in this pest. In the current study, we explored the possibility of using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to modify the genome of FAW. We first identified and characterized the abdominal-A (Sfabd-A) gene of FAW. Sfabd-A single guide RNA (sgRNA) and Cas9 protein were then injected into 244 embryos of F

SUBMITTER: Wu K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6283638 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature