{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T04:44:27Z","timestamp":1777092267246,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776470400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2025YFE0208400"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025YFE0208400"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012421","name":"the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["CAAS-BRC-CB-2025-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAAS-BRC-CB-2025-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012421","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>RNA interference (RNAi) provides a sequence-specific strategy for pest management, but efficient and stable double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) delivery remains a key challenge. Here, we established a plant-probiotic-based gene silencing system using the endophytic fungus Fusarium commune G3-29 as a dsRNA delivery vector against western flower thrips (WFTs, Frankliniella occidentalis). Recombinant G3-29 strains expressing dsRNA targeting the essential WFT genes ACT and SNF were constructed and confirmed to colonize kidney bean leaves without pathogenicity. Bioassays showed that feeding on leaves colonized by dsRNA-expressing G3-29 significantly decreased survival and downregulated target gene expression in both WFT larvae and adults. Within 4 days, survival of both larvae and adults fell below 10%. In larvae, target gene expression decreased by 63% (ACT) and 33% (SNF), while in adults, reductions of 74% (ACT) and 65% (SNF) were observed. In contrast, in vitro-synthesized dsRNA failed to induce significant gene silencing or mortality in larvae, and its control efficacy against adults was also inferior to that of endophytic fungus-mediated dsRNA delivery. Our findings establish endophytic fungus F. commune G3-29 as an effective and sustainable dsRNA delivery vehicle for RNAi-based pest control, offering distinct advantages over existing strategies such as HIGS and SIGS. This approach provides a promising new direction for managing WFTs and other insect pests.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12040291","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T08:24:23Z","timestamp":1776673463000},"page":"291","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Endophytic Fusarium commune G3-29-Mediated dsRNA Delivery for Efficient Control of Western Flower Thrips"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Xueyuan","family":"Sheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Native Grass Breeding, College of Grassland Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanfei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chang","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuangchao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Endong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Native Grass Breeding, College of Grassland Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9432-6834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lihua","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1148","DOI":"10.1128\/EC.05109-11","article-title":"RNA interference in fungi: Pathways, functions, and applications","volume":"10","author":"Dang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Eukaryot Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"806","DOI":"10.1038\/35888","article-title":"Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans","volume":"391","author":"Fire","year":"1998","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tibtech.2025.08.004","article-title":"Sustainable protection of multiple hosts against polyphagous pests using Plant Probiotic-Based Gene Silencing","volume":"44","author":"Chen","year":"2026","journal-title":"Trends Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Qi, H.Y., Zhang, D.D., Liu, B., Chen, J.Y., Han, D., and Wang, D. 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