All things Plodia: model organism, best practices, experimental guides, and more!
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Despite being a hyper-diverse insect lineage, Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) order still lacks the tools for functional genomics methods, notably due to the difficulty in manipulating gene activity since RNAi efficiency is notoriously low in these insects. The model organism representing this order, Bombyx mori (silkmoth), is not easily adoptable for genetic research outside sericulture because of its large size, expensive feeding and rearing requirement, and competing economic interest. Overall, there is no access for Lepidopteran research in the western hemisphere to routinely perform a gain-of-function assay, to study the activity of cis-regulatory elements, or to manipulate or visualize a specific cell type in vivo.
Pyralid Plodia interpunctella (Indian mealmoth) stands out as an alternative for genetic model organism in Lepidoptera as heritable genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 has been shown to be efficient. Being an agricultural pest, Plodia has no conflicting economic values for research purposes. In addition, it exhibits ideal model organism characteristics: