A specialized yeast developed by a Vancouver company delivers a 98 percent kill on Colorado potato beetles, according to independent tests conducted by Atlantic AgriTech on Prince Edward Island.
This is good news for potato producers, who often have crops ravaged by the the beetles. The revolutionary-rna-based-biopesticide-technology is actually a form of yeast that carries the RNA interference and achieves 98.3 percent mortality after 10 days. It was developed Renaissance BioScience of Vancouver.
In an email interview, Renaissance chief executive officer John Husnik said Colorado potato beetles have “a legendary ability to develop resistance to a wide range of chemical pesticides previously used. A natural biopesticide is urgently needed to reduce widespread damage and major economic costs of this pest.
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Renaissance said its yeast-based RNA production and oral delivery for crop protection is environmentally safe and uses RNAi to precisely target specific genes in specific pests. This avoids broad spectrum damage to beneficials in the soil, water and air.
The RNAi yeast targets and turns off a specific Colorado potato beetle gene. This results in high beetle mortality and protection for the potato plant.
It’s possible to include multiple gene targets in each cell of the delivery system. This reduces or eliminates the potential for the beetles to develop resistance to biopesticide.
“Given that the large-scale, low-cost production of yeast is already readily available from well-established global yeast companies, our focus now is maximizing effectiveness through further laboratory tests and field trials and organizing appropriate commercial partners for the next phases of product development,” said Husnik.
“Renaissance’s RNAi production and oral delivery has potential as a biopesticide against a wide range of different pests. It has significant promise in human and animal healthcare. Yeast has been an amazing natural workhorse for human civilization for thousands of years.”
