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<p>The oriental fruit fly, <i>Bactrocera dorsalis</i>, is a devastating pest in global horticulture, yet the relentless rise of insecticide resistance has steadily undermined conventional control measures. While microbial biocontrol agents offer an environmentally benign alternative, their efficacy is constrained by the host innate immune system. Here, we present a strategy to overcome this limitation by using RNA interference (RNAi) to suppress host immune defenses, thereby improving the pathogenicity of an indigenous gut bacterium. From naturally deceased <i>B. dorsalis</i> individuals, we isolated <i>Serratia marcescens</i>, a Gram-negative pathogen capable of stable gut colonization and inducing significant adult mortality. Infection with <i>S. marcescens</i> activated the Imd immune pathway, and RNAi-mediated silencing of <i>BdDpt</i> increased bacterial load in the hemolymph. To enable oral delivery, we employed chitosan nanoparticles to protect dsRNA from gut nucleases and incorporated ds<i>RNase</i> silencing to prolong RNAi activity. In cage and semi-field trials, the combination of <i>S. marcescens</i> with nanoparticle-encapsulated dsRNA targeting both <i>BdDpt</i> and <i>RNases</i> achieved 70.4% and 59.3% corrected mortality, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that RNAi-mediated immune suppression overcomes the physiological barrier limiting microbial control, providing a powerful integrated pest management strategy against <i>B. dorsalis</i> and the related insect pests.</p>

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RNAi-mediated immune suppression enhances Serratia marcescens pathogenicity against the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月14日

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  • Bingbing Wei,
  • Xun Cui,
  • Qiongyu Jiao,
  • Haocun Yang,
  • Gregory Oluwole Ijiti,
  • Yi Liu,
  • Guijian Zhang,
  • Ying Yan,
  • Changying Niu

摘要

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is a devastating pest in global horticulture, yet the relentless rise of insecticide resistance has steadily undermined conventional control measures. While microbial biocontrol agents offer an environmentally benign alternative, their efficacy is constrained by the host innate immune system. Here, we present a strategy to overcome this limitation by using RNA interference (RNAi) to suppress host immune defenses, thereby improving the pathogenicity of an indigenous gut bacterium. From naturally deceased B. dorsalis individuals, we isolated Serratia marcescens, a Gram-negative pathogen capable of stable gut colonization and inducing significant adult mortality. Infection with S. marcescens activated the Imd immune pathway, and RNAi-mediated silencing of BdDpt increased bacterial load in the hemolymph. To enable oral delivery, we employed chitosan nanoparticles to protect dsRNA from gut nucleases and incorporated dsRNase silencing to prolong RNAi activity. In cage and semi-field trials, the combination of S. marcescens with nanoparticle-encapsulated dsRNA targeting both BdDpt and RNases achieved 70.4% and 59.3% corrected mortality, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that RNAi-mediated immune suppression overcomes the physiological barrier limiting microbial control, providing a powerful integrated pest management strategy against B. dorsalis and the related insect pests.