Table 4.
Non-target effects in six insect species triggered by a dsRNA targeting Chilo suppressalis EF1.
| Insects | Target region identity with CsEF1 | Longest contiguous matching segment | Longest imperfect matching segment | Knockdown efficiency (%)a by perfectly matching dsEF1 | Knockdown of EF1 in non-target (%)b by dsCsEF1 | Off-target knockdown potential (%)c |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilo suppressalis | 100 | 100 | - | 23.6 | - | - |
| Helicoverpa armigera | 94 | 35 | 83 | <0 | <0 | - |
| Spodoptera litura | 84 | 14 | 26 | <0 | <0 | - |
| Tribolium castaneum | 91 | 32 | 47 | 96.2 | 95.7 | 99.5 |
| Drosophila melanogaster | 90 | 26 | 74 | 84.9 | 62.4 | 73.5 |
| Locusta migratoria | 83 | 14 | 41 | 91.2 | 46.4 | 50.9 |
aKnockdown efficiency (%) was calculated by comparing EF1 mRNA levels in dsEF1 treated with those in control insects treated with dsEGFP.
bKnockdown of EF1 in non-target insects (%) was calculated by comparing EF1 mRNA levels in non-target insects treated with dsCsEF1 with those treated with dsEGFP.
cNon-target knockdown potential (%) was calculated by non-target knockdown efficiency/target knockdown efficiency.
In the RNAi experiments, each sample contains four biological repeats and each biological repeat contains five larval individuals for Chilo suppressalis, Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura, and Locusta migratoria.