DNA insecticides: the lethal potency of LdMNPV IAP-2 gene antisense oligonucleotides in pre-infected gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) larvae

In this study, we designed and analysed the insecticidal effectiveness of two short single-stranded DNA fragments from LdMNPV (Lymantria dispar multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus) IAP-2 gene. Our results show that the ssDNA fragments from the antisense region is selectively lethal, and rapidly decreases the population of second instar gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) larvae one day post-treatment (Control-H₂O group vs oligoA_n group, χ² = 5; p < 0.05) when infected with LdMNPV as a trigger, before treatment through feeding with 75 pmol/µl of synthesized fragments from LdMNPV IAP-2 gene. Data analysis on larvae biomass did not show significant influence in all groups of the experiment when compared with the Control-H₂O group. Relatively, our preliminary evaluation of biochemical parameters (total glucose and total protein concentrations) did not show significant response to the applied ssDNA oligonucleotides. Our conclusive remarks based on mortality data support the concept that antisense oligonucleotides from LdMNPV IAP-2 gene can act as an insecticide against pre-infected gypsy moth larvae.