A Comparison of RNA Interference via Injection and Feeding in Honey Bees

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 13; no. 10; p. 928
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yong, Li, Zhen, Wang, Zi-Long, Zhang, Li-Zhen, Zeng, Zhi-Jiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 13.10.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: 4-Coumarate-CoA ligase; Apis mellifera; Bees; Biological research; Biology, Experimental; Brain; Efficiency; Feeding; Food and nutrition; Gene expression; Genes; Genetic aspects; Heat shock proteins; Honey; honey bee; Honeybee; Hsp70 protein; Injection; Insects; Interference; Metabolism; Methods; Phenotypes; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA-mediated interference; RNAi; siRNA; Survival analysis; China; United States > US
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects13100928

RNA interference (RNAi) has been used successfully to reduce target gene expression and induce specific phenotypes in several species. It has proved useful as a tool to investigate gene function and has the potential to manage pest populations and reduce disease pathogens. However, it is not known whether different administration methods are equally effective at interfering with genes in bees. Therefore, we compared the effects of feeding and injection of small interfering RNA (siRNA) on the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of alpha-aminoadipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH7A1), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). Both feeding and injection of siRNA successfully knocked down the gene but feeding required more siRNA than the injection. Our results suggest that both feeding and injection of siRNA effectively interfere with brain genes in bees. The appropriateness of each method would depend on the situation.