Dear Colleagues,
The efficient and sustainable management of agricultural pests has been a global challenge. As a critical component for the area-wide integrative pest management (AW-IPM), the sterile insect technique (SIT), which is based on releases of sterile insects at regular intervals, has been successfully used in the last 70 years worldwide. Multiple novel genetic control strategies that require genome engineering or editing technology were used or proposed based on the core concept of SIT. Similar to these strategies, RNAi-based pesticides are also regarded as environmentally-friendly and species-specific methods for pest control. To develop SIT- or RNAi-based strategies, in-depth genomic analysis, and bioinformatics in the target species are needed to evaluate the potential genomic target sites, isolate functional molecular elements, compare different genetic strains, or analyze mutant lines for stability and potential risks.
In recent years, the whole genome sequences of many agricultural pests were assembled, which shed new light on novel genetic control methods. In this special issue, we welcome original research or review articles focusing on the gene or genome-related control strategies such as genetic sexing strain (GSS), the release of insects carrying dominant lethal (RIDL), transgenic embryonic sexing system (TESS), sex-ratio distortion (SRD), transgene-based sterility, gene drive, RNAi pesticides, as well as any genome research that could facilitate the development of mentioned or other control strategies for agricultural pests. In addition, we are also interested in articles that address the regulation of specific genetic control approaches in different countries or regions.
Sincerely,
The Guest Editors
Dr. Ying Yan
Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Department of Insect Biotechnology in Plant Protection, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Winchester Street 2, 35394 Giessen, Germany
Prof. Dr. Maxwell J. Scott
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7613, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
Prof. Dr. Marc F. Schetelig
Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Department of Insect Biotechnology in Plant Protection, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Winchester Street 2, 35394 Giessen, Germany
Keywords
· Genome engineering
· Gene editing
· Genetic sexing
· RNAi-based pesticides
· Bioinformatics
· Genome research
· Metagenomic research
· Sequencing technologies
· Area-wide integrative pest management
· Sterile insect technique
· Regulation for genetically modified organism
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-integrative-agriculture by registering and logging into this website (Note: at the first "title entering" step during submission, please add "Pest Control Issue" after the manuscript title). All manuscripts should be prepared in English and can be submitted until the deadline. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted). Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited.
This Special Issue will strictly follow the editorial policy of JIA. All manuscripts must be passed by rigorous peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. JIA is an international peer-reviewed open access journal published by ELSEVIER, and the current impact factor is 2.848.
Submission deadline: 31 March 2022.
