Feeding-Based RNA Intereference of a Gap Gene Is Lethal to the Pea Aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum

The gap gene hunchback (hb) is a key regulator in the anteroposterior patterning of insects. Loss-of-function of hb resulted in segmentation defects in the next generation. In this paper, hb expression level was investigated at different developmental stages of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Ap). Aphb mRNA was most early detected at the first instar stage and showed an incontinuous increase in the whole life cycle. Ingested RNA interference was performed at the second instar stage to knockdown the Aphb expression. Continuous feeding of Aphb double-stranded RNA mixed in artificial diet led to reduction of Aphb transcripts and rise of insect lethality. These results indicated that hunchback was a good RNAi target in the management of insect pests.