AUM LifeTech, in collaboration with the USDA, has developed a novel non-GMO RNA-silencing approach for bacteria, insect and pathogen control with a focus on citrus trees and fruits.
Citrus greening (also known as huanglongbing), a fatal bacterial citrus disease, has already caused an estimated $15 billion loss in revenue to the industry. Citrus is the most consumed fruit in the U.S., with an estimated annual $9 billion industry. These numbers are rapidly changing, with losses increasing and industry size decreasing every year.
According to a study funded by the USDA, Florida, which produces almost two-thirds of the U.S.’s total citrus, saw an almost 60 percent reduction in citrus production over the past 15 years. Brazil and China, which produce almost twice what the U.S. does, are also struggling with citrus greening.
Considering this significant problem, the USDA is actively looking for new strategies to help avoid huge losses in the industry. Researchers are now using AUM’s next-generation RNA-silencing FANA technology to combat the plant pathogenic bacteria Candidatus liberibacter and citrus pests like the citrus root weevil and Asian citrus psyllid. Preliminary results showed an increase in insect mortality and reduction of bacteria within citrus trees. This is the first evidence of successful delivery of FANA antisense oligonucleotides (FANA ASOs) into plants through foliar sprays, root absorption and tree trunk injections. This provides a new approach for management of agricultural pests and plant pathogens.
“Given the resistance of conventional pesticides, there is an ever-growing need for new, innovative technologies to protect plants,” says Veenu Aishwarya, founder and CEO of AUM LifeTech. “We are excited to share that, in this collaborative study with USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), our next-generation FANA RNA-silencing approach has shown very promising data in the management of agricultural pests and pathogens due to its ability to kill or manipulate bacteria, insects or viruses. We hope that our combined efforts with USDA can soon help to save billions of dollars of the citrus industry. Importantly, although AUM’s FANA technology works at the genetic level, it does not create genetically modified organisms. This is a very beneficial aspect in agriculture—especially from an EPA registration perspective—and may potentially help with a faster approval time.”
AUM LifeTech’s FANA antisense technology provides a superior RNA-silencing alternative that can provide longer persistence for topical applications in non-transgenic plant protection programs. Further, since FANA technology can be self-delivered, it provides significant improvements over conventional RNAi strategies and certain gene-editing technologies like CRISPR, which still need additional delivery strategies and may also have unknown permanent off-target effects.
These encouraging results suggest that AUM’s FANA technology can be developed for insect and plant pathogen management for a wide spectrum of agricultural crops. The data will be presented at the upcoming International Plant & Animal Genome Conference this January in San Diego.