Oral RNAi assays in Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata suggest HvSec23 and HvSar1 as promising molecular targets for pest control

The coat protein II (COPII) complex is a class of coated vesicles involved in protein transport from the endoplas-mic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus, serving a variety of important roles in animal growth and development. In this study, we selected three COPII genes, HvSec23, HvSec24, and HvSar1 to explore the RNAi silencing effect on Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (HVig), a dreadful solanaceous crop pest, using the dietary RNA interference (RNAi) technique. The results showed that HvSec23, HvSec24, and HvSar1 had a significant lethal effect on the 1^st and 3^rd instars of HVig. In addi-tion, oral administration of the bacterially expressed dsHvSec23 and dsHvSar1 caused high mortality and feeding inhibition in both larvae and adults, whereas dsHvSec24 only had a significant effect on the larvae. Moreover, the predatory ladybeetle Propylaea japonica was tested for evaluating the non-target effects of dsHvSec23 through oral and injection RNAi. Results confirmed that gene expression of PjSec23 was significantly suppressed by injection RNAi, but not oral RNAi. Overall, our results revealed that HvSec23 and HvSar1 could be used as promising molecular targets for controlling HVig.