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Updated: May 10, 2026
Chitosan/Interfering RNA Nanoparticle Mediated Gene Silencing in Disease Vector Mosquito Larvae
Published on: March 25, 2015
The gene encoding chitin deacetylase is a potential target for RNAi-based control of Laodelphax striatellus Fallén
Wenxing Hu1, Ao You1, Yang Cao1
1College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
Background:
Chitin deacetylase (CDA) is a key enzyme in chitin modification. However, its functions in the agricultural pest Laodelphax striatellus (small brown planthopper, SBPH), particularly those relevant to pest control, remain largely unexplored.
Results:
The CDAs encoded by LsCDA1, LsCDA2 and LsCDA4 were highly expressed in fifth-instar nymphs and eggs. Injection of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) targeting LsCDA1 and LsCDA2 (designated dsLsCDA1 and dsLsCDA2) induced over 95% mortality in nymphs and complete lethality (100%) in eggs. Silencing LsCDA1 and LsCDA2 suppressed the expression of chitin synthesis- and degradation-related enzymes, while simultaneously inhibited the degradation of old cuticle and the formation of new cuticle in nymphs, as well as reduced chitosan content and cuticle integrity in eggs. These findings reveal a novel role for dsLsCDA1 and dsLsCDA2 in the egg lethality of hemimetabolous insects. The cross-species ovicidal efficacy of dsLsCDA1 and dsLsCDA2 was further validated in another notorious rice pest, Nilaparvata lugens (brown planthopper, BPH), which extended beyond the known nymphal lethality of dsRNA targets NlCDA1 and NlCDA2 in BPH. Based on these results, oral delivery of a bacterially transcribed dsRNA-CDA chimera targeting LsCDA1 and NlCDA1 significantly suppressed CDA1 expression in both species, leading to 43% and 49% nymph mortality in SBPH and BPH, and 53% and 41% egg lethality in SBPH and BPH, respectively.
Conclusion:
These results reveal the novel physiological functions of CDA in molting and egg development, thereby highlighting its potential as a target for RNA interference-mediated control of SBPH. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
