Proteome Based Identification of Potential RNAi Targets for Cotton Mealybug (Phenacoccus Solenopsis Tinsley) Management

Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), commonly known as cotton mealybug, regarded as an invasive pest worldwide, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. Despite imposing significant economic threat on vast number of agricultural crops a promising, environment-friendly control strategy against this crop pest is lacking. Additionally, molecular aspects of this insect pest are under-studied. This is the pioneer study providing the proteome data of four different developmental stages of cotton mealybug. Differential expression of proteins (DEPs) was studied among six different groups of which, maximum DEPs (550 up-regulated and 1118 down- regulated) were obtained when the quantifiable proteins of Egg + first nymphal were compared with second nymphal instar (FC ≥ 2, P < 0.05). From the generated proteomics data potential target genes were selected for cotton mealybug management. Further, these genes were explored and evaluated for RNAi-based pest control and optimisation of dsRNA delivery system in cotton mealybug. RNAi-based pest management analysis signified that dsRNA of Ferritin-like precursor ( Psfer ) gene (TRINITY_DN17055_c1_g1_i1) caused a significant amount of ~ 69% mortality followed by dsRNA of probable cytochrome P450 6a14-like ( Psp450 6a14 ) gene (TRINITY_DN47081_c0_g1) and odorant-binding protein 2 precursor ( Psobp ) gene (TRINITY_DN11547_c0_g1). This investigation proposes potential alternate, green strategy for management of cotton mealybug and related pest population. And this study offers valuable insights into proteome of Cotton mealybug and hemipterans further providing avenues of proteome-based identification of RNAi targets for pest management and crop improvement.