Bioscience Methods 2024, Vol.15, No.4, 196-206 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/bm 2 00 specificity and potency, making it a valuable tool for pest management. RNAi can be delivered through transgenic plants or non-transformative methods such as foliar sprays, trunk injections, and irrigation (Zotti et al., 2018; Cagliari et al., 2019; Yan et al., 2020). The use of RNAi in crop protection extends beyond insect pests to include pathogens and nematodes, providing a broad spectrum of applications (Zotti et al., 2018; Li et al., 2023). Figure 2 Changes in pest-community interactions due to Bt cotton and Bt toxins (Adopted from Razzaq et al., 2023) Image caption: Plant debrises include defoliation, pollen falling, and sqare and boll shedding (Adopted from Razzaq et al., 2023) 4.2.2 Case studies of RNAi in cotton pest control Several case studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of RNAi in controlling cotton pests. For instance, transgenic cotton plants expressing dsRNA targeting the juvenile hormone synthesis pathway in Helicoverpa armigera have shown significant pest mortality and delayed resistance development when combined with Bt toxins (Ma and Zhang, T., 2018). Another study highlighted the potential of plastid-mediated RNAi (PM-RNAi) to protect plants from multiple arthropod pests by engineering the chloroplast genome to produce dsRNA (Li et al., 2023). Additionally, the use of pre-microRNA-based technology (plin-amiR) has been explored to control herbivorous pests like the cotton bollworm, showing promising results in increasing pest mortality and developmental abnormalities (Bally et al., 2020). 4.3 CRISPR-Cas9 and gene editing for pest resistance CRISPR-Cas9 technology offers a powerful tool for gene editing, enabling precise modifications to the genome of both plants and pests. This technology can be used to develop pest-resistant cotton varieties by targeting specific genes involved in pest susceptibility. For example, CRISPR-Cas9 can be employed to knock out genes essential for pest survival or reproduction, thereby reducing pest populations and enhancing crop protection. The integration of CRISPR-Cas9 with other biotechnological approaches, such as Bt and RNAi, holds great potential for sustainable pest management in cotton crops (Razzaq et al., 2023). 5 Precision Agriculture and Digital Tools 5.1 Use of remote sensing and drones The integration of remote sensing and drone technology has revolutionized pest management in cotton crops.
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