Molecular and Genetic Advancement in Insect Pest Management

Abstract

Scientific advancement in the molecular and genetic field has offered new opportunities to address many of the productivity constraints and holds great potential to be included in pest management programmes. Successful application of the technologies has leveraged in the saving of time, effort and money. Molecular tools are being used in the entomological field especially in the areas of insect taxonomy for species discovery; insect genetic relationship studies; development of resistant crops that release insect-specific toxins; improvement in breeding programmes; enhancement in the performance of natural enemies; design of microbial agents with increased potency; genomic studies to identify desirable genes to trace the insecticide resistance mechanism and development of bio-rational insecticides with a novel mode of action. Nascent approaches like gene editing, RNA interference (RNAi); gene drives and recently CRISPR-Cas9 system-based pest management tools are being developed. The current scenario in the molecular and genetic field in relevance to insect pest management is discussed here.