Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026
10:14
Double-stranded RNA Oral Delivery Methods to Induce RNA Interference in Phloem and Plant-sap-feeding Hemipteran Insects
Published on: May 4, 2018
Nanocarrier-Mediated RNAi: Breaking the dsRNA Delivery Bottleneck in Crop Protection
Qiang Wang1, Chaonan Li1, Richard Yang2
1School of Life Sciences, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
|June 17, 2026
Summary
Developing effective nanocarrier delivery systems is crucial for advancing RNA interference (RNAi) in crop protection. This review outlines a framework for designing nanocarriers to overcome delivery challenges and enable sustainable agricultural applications.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- RNA interference (RNAi) presents a promising, sequence-specific method for sustainable crop protection.
- Inefficient delivery of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) hinders agricultural RNAi applications due to environmental degradation and poor cellular uptake.
- Current nanocarrier strategies lack established design principles for agricultural dsRNA delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review various nanocarrier types for dsRNA delivery in agriculture.
- To establish a barrier-guided design framework for optimizing nanocarrier properties.
- To analyze structure-activity relationships and identify challenges for field translation.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature review of inorganic, organic, hybrid, and bioderived nanocarriers for dsRNA delivery.
- Analysis of physicochemical properties influencing dsRNA protection, transport, cellular uptake, and release.
- Identification of challenges including biological variability, scalability, biosafety, and regulatory hurdles.
Main Results:
- Nanocarriers show potential to enhance dsRNA stability, penetration, uptake, and release for improved gene silencing.
- A barrier-guided design framework is proposed, linking delivery obstacles to specific nanocarrier properties.
- Key structure-activity relationships are analyzed to inform rational nanocarrier design.
Conclusions:
- Rational design of nanocarriers is essential to overcome dsRNA delivery bottlenecks in agricultural RNAi.
- Addressing challenges in scalability, biosafety, and field translation is critical for practical application.
- Future research should focus on developing field-deployable RNAi delivery systems for sustainable crop protection.
Related Concept Videos
02:15Experimental RNAi
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular mechanism that inhibits gene expression by suppressing its transcription or activating the RNA degradation process. The mechanism was discovered by Andrew Fire and Craig Mello in 1998 in plants. Today, it is observed in almost all eukaryotes, including protozoa, flies, nematodes, insects, parasites, and mammals. This precise cellular mechanism of gene silencing has been developed into a technique that provides an efficient way to identify and determine the...
01:23RNA Interference
RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which a small non-coding RNA molecule blocks the post-transcriptional expression of a gene by binding to its messenger RNA (mRNA) and preventing the protein from being translated.
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
01:23RNA Interference
RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which a small non-coding RNA molecule blocks the post-transcriptional expression of a gene by binding to its messenger RNA (mRNA) and preventing the protein from being translated.
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
02:30siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
Small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, are short regulatory RNA molecules that can silence genes post-transcriptionally, as well as the transcriptional level in some cases. siRNAs are important for protecting cells against viral infections and silencing transposable genetic elements.
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
01:20Types of RNA
Three main types of RNA are involved in protein synthesis: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). These RNAs perform diverse functions and can be broadly classified as protein-coding or non-coding RNA. Non-coding RNAs play important roles in regulating gene expression in response to developmental and environmental changes. Non-coding RNAs in prokaryotes can be manipulated to develop more effective antibacterial drugs for human or animal use.
RNA Performs Diverse...
RNA Performs Diverse...