WO 2017/205751 Al 30 November 2017 (30.11.2017) W !P O PCT
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) (19) World Intellectual Property Organization International Bureau (10) International Publication Number (43) International Publication Date WO 2017/205751 Al 30 November 2017 (30.11.2017) W !P O PCT (51) International Patent Classification: WHEELER, Christopher; c/o Provivi, Inc., 1701 Col A01M 29/12 (201 1.01) C12N 15/82 (2006.01) orado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90404 (US). A I 27/00 (2006.01) C12P 19/34 (2006.01) (74) Agent: VEITENHEIMER, Erich et al. ; Cooley LLP, 1299 (21) International Application Number: Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, Dis PCT/US20 17/034697 trict of Columbia 20004-2400 (US). (22) International Filing Date: (81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every 26 May 2017 (26.05.2017) kind of national protection available): AE, AG, AL, AM, AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BN, BR, BW, BY, BZ, (25) Filing Language: English CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DJ, DK, DM, DO, (26) Publication Language: English DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IR, IS, JP, KE, KG, KH, KN, KP, KR, (30) Priority Data: KW, KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, 62/342,807 27 May 2016 (27.05.2016) US MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, (71) Applicant: PROVIVI, INC. [US/US]; 1701 Colorado Av PA, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA, SC, enue, Santa Monica, California 90404 (US). SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, ZM, ZW. (72) Inventors: COELHO, Pedro; c/o Provivi, Inc., 1701 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90404 (US). (84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every kind of regional protection available): ARIPO (BW, GH, (54) Title: IMPROVED INSECT CONTROL STRATEGIES UTILIZING PHEROMONES AND RNAI CTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGCAAGCAGTGGTAACAACGCAGAGTACGCGG 1 GGTCATTTGCTTTCAAAAACCTTCGAGGGAGACCACGGAAGCACCAACTAC 102 AACCTTCCGTAGTTACTAGTAAAAGTGATCCGTACTTTATTTCACGTAAAC 153 GAAPiCTCAGTTAGCTGCTGAATTTATTTCGACGTGCAGATTTATAAAGTTC 2 0 4 GAAGGATC7iCAATGAA ?iCGAGCGCGTACAACGTGTACCTGGGAGTCGTGG 2 5 6 M K T S A Y N Y L G V V 1 3 CCGCCATGTTGGCTCTACTGTTCX?TCACAATTAATGCTGCGCCAATGGAGG 3 0 7 A A M L A L L F V T I N l M E 3 0 CGGACGATGACACGGCTGAGAACACCCTCGTGCCGCATCCCGATCGTGACA 3 5 8 A D D E T A E N T L V A H P D G D TGGAGCTCTCAGGCCCCTGGGATGCTATCAJiCACTGCCGCTCTAGGCAAAC 4 0 9 M E L 3 G P D A I N T A A L K _ 6 4 TGCTGCTGCAACTTGATGCAGAGGACAGGATGGGCGGGGTGACCCGCTCGT 4 6 0 L L L Q L D A E D R M G G V T R S 8 1 GGCCCCAAGCTGAGCCCCGCGGTTGGGGTCTGCGGGCGTTGGACAGCCGTC 5 1 1 W P Q A E P R G W G L R A L D S R 9 8 TGGCGCGGCAGTGGAGGGCAGACAAGCGGCAGGTGCGATTCCGCCAGTGCT 562 115 ACTTCAACCCAATTTCCTGCTTC CGCAAGTGAAAACAGCACCAACTCAtACG 6 1 3 1 2 5 ACGCATCGACCGTTTGACCTAGGGTAGCAAGAACG AATAAAACGTCGCCAT 6 6 4 AATCTCCCGAJXAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' 3 6 9 9 FIG. 1 (57) Abstract: Systems and methods of preventing or reducing crop damage from pests are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises: a) applying a mating disruption tactic to a field plot; and b) disrupting expression of one or more target genes in one or o more pests, wherein crop damage is reduced in the field plot. In another embodiment, the method comprises applying an attract-and-kill tactic to a field plot, wherein said attract-and-kill tactic comprises: a) applying one or more semiochemicals or factors; and b) disrupting expression of one or more target genes in one or more pests, wherein said disruption is capable of killing the one or more pests, wherein o crop damage is reduced in the field plot. o [Continued on nextpage] WO 2017/205751 Al Illlll II i ll lllll i ll llll III III i ll Hill lllll lllll lllll llll llll llll llll GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, RW, SD, SL, ST, SZ, TZ, UG, ZM, ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TJ, TM), European (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR), OAPI (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GQ, GW, KM, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG). Declarations under Rule 4.17: — as to applicant's entitlement to apply for and be granted a patent (Rule 4.1 7( )) Published: — with international search report (Art. 21(3)) — with sequence listing part of description (Rule 5.2(a)) IMPROVED INSECT CONTROL STRATEGIES UTILIZING PHEROMONES AND RNAI CROSS-REFERENCE T RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/342,807, filed May 27, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. STATEMENT REGARDING SEQUENCE LISTING [0002] The Sequence Listing associated with this application is provided in text format in lieu of a paper copy, and is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification. The name of the text file containing the Sequence Listing is PRVI-015_01WO_SeqList_ST25.txt. The text file is about 3.5 KB, was created on May 25, 2017, and is being submitted electronically via EFS-Web. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present disclosure relates to improved systems and methods for controlling pests. n one embodiment, the method comprises: a) applying a mating disruption tactic to a field plot; and b) disrupting expression of one or more target genes in one or more pests, wherein crop damage is reduced in the field plot. In another embodiment, the method comprises applying an attract-and-kill tactic to a field plot, wherein said attract-and-kill tactic comprises: a) applying one or more semiochemicals or factors; and b) disrupting expression of one or more target genes in one or more pests, wherein said disruption is capable of killing the one or more pests, wherein crop damage is reduced in the field plot. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] About - 6 percent of global crop production is lost to pests such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes. About 67,000 different crop pest species—including plant pathogens, weeds, invertebrates and some vertebrate species— together cause about a 40 percent reduction in the world's crop yield. For example, the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea, infests roughly 70% of the 3,800,000 acres of cotton grown in the US each year. Helicoverpa zea, also known as the corn earworm, is the second most important economic pest species in North America. H . zea migrates seasonally, mostly at night, and can be carried downwind up to 400 km. Furthermore, a strong relationship exists between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and the expansion of crop pests. [0005] Chemical pesticides have traditionally been used to control pests, but resistance of the pests to these chemicals has been increasing. More than 90 percent of the arthropod species with resistant populations are Diptera (35 percent), Lepidoptera (15 percent), Coleoptera (14 percent), Hemiptera (14 percent), or mites (14 percent). The heavy use of insecticides against disease-carrying mosquitoes has led to the disproportionately high number of resistant Diptera. Agricultural pests account for 59 percent of harmful resistant species, while medical and veterinary pests account for 4 1 percent. Statistical analyses suggest that for crop pests, resistance evolves most readily in those with an intermediate number of generations (four to ten) per year that feed either by chewing or by sucking on plant cell contents (Karaagac SU: Insecticide resistance. In: Insecticides - Advances in integrated Pest Management. Edited by Perveen F : In Tech; 2012:469-478). Additionally, broad-spectrum pesticides can adversely affect human health and the environment. T ey are often non-selective, harming beneficial organisms as well as pests. Thus there is a desire to employ safer and more environmentally friendly pest control techniques and lim iting the amount of chemical pesticides. [0006] Integrated pest management (IPM) considers all available pest control tactics and how these tactics fit with other agricultural practices to grow healthy crops and minimize the use of pesticides. The goal of IPM is to prevent pests from inflicting economic or aesthetic damage with the least risk to the environment. IPM involves the identification of pests, accurate measurement of pest populations, assessment of damage levels and knowledge of available pest management strategies or tactics that enable the specialist to make intelligent decisions about pest control . Pest control strategies can include chemical control; physical, mechanical and cultural controls; genetic control; and biological control. [0007] Synthetic chemical pesticides can include inorganic substances like arsenic- containing salts or synthetic organic compounds like organophosphates, carbamates, and triazines. Pesticides such as insecticides can be classified according to shared chemical structures and modes of action (MoA). MoA is the specific process by which an insecticide kills an insect, or inhibits its growth. A good cultural practice is to use insecticides having different MoAs to slow the rate at which insects develop resistance to any one class of chemical insecticides. [0008] Physical, mechanical and cultural controls include ecological landscaping to reduce field size and distance to habitats of natural enemies, erection of barriers, crop rotation, cover cropping, mechanical removal of pests (e.g., by hand or vacuums), improved crop residue management, better water management, and improved pest monitoring. [0009] Genetic control strategies take advantage of naturally resistant plant or crop varieties, new plant or crop varieties bred for resistance, or transgenic plant or crop varieties. Genetic control strategies can also encompass production and release of sterile pests to prevent reproduction.