The southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula, is a worldwide pest of many important crops. RNA from N. viridula nymphs and adults was sequenced and assembled into a transcriptome. Orthologs of genes coding for proteins involved in RNA interference (RNAi) pathways and potential target genes for RNAi-mediated control of this pest were identified by searching the transcriptome. The watery saliva, lumen and hemolymph collected from N. viridula showed lower dsRNase activity than that in the lumen and hemolymph collected from the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, which is refractory to RNAi. Seven housekeeping genes, 60S RP L12, 40S RP S17, 18S rRNA, EF1-α, Actin, Ubiquitin and β-Tubulin, were evaluated across developmental stages and dsRNA treatments and identified 60S RP L12 and 40S RP S17 as the best reference genes for use in reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). One microgram of dsRNA targeting the orthologs of seven known RNAi target genes (SNF7, IAP1, IAP2, IAP5, PP1, GPCR and ATPase1) was tested in N. viridula. Three out of seven dsRNAs tested induced 67–100% mortality. Injection of dsRNA targeting SNF7 into N. viridula adults caused 100% mortality, while feeding dsSNF7 induced 60% mortality in both adults and nymphs. Delivery of dsRNA by either feeding or injection efficiently knocked down target gene expression. These data demonstrate that RNAi pathway components are present in N. viridula and delivering dsRNA by either injection or feeding induces silencing of target gene expression and mortality, suggesting that RNAi-based methods could be developed to manage this pest.

南部的绿色臭虫Nezara viridula是全世界许多重要农作物的害虫。对来自绿唇沼虾若虫和成虫的RNA进行测序，并将其组装成转录组。通过搜索转录组，可以鉴定出编码参与RNA干扰（RNAi）途径的蛋白质的基因的直系同源基因以及RNAi介导的对该害虫进行控制的潜在靶基因。从鹅毛猪笼草收集的唾液，管腔和淋巴液中的水显示出比从秋天粘虫（Spodoptera frugiperda）收集的管腔和血淋巴中的dsRNase活性低，后者对RNAi呈难治性。七个管家基因，60S RP L12、40S RP S17、18S rRNA，EF1-α，肌动蛋白，泛素和β-管蛋白在整个发育阶段和dsRNA处理过程中对cDNA进行了评估，并确定60S RP L12和40S RP S17是用于逆转录酶定量PCR（RT-qPCR）的最佳参考基因。靶向七个已知RNAi靶基因（该直向同源物的dsRNA之一微克SNF7，IAP1，IAP2，IAP5，PP1，GPCR和ATPase1）中进行了测试N.蝽。测试的七个dsRNA中有三个导致67-100％的死亡率。将靶向SNF7的dsRNA注入到长叶猪笼草中成年人造成100％的死亡率，而饲喂dsSNF7则导致成年人和若虫的死亡率都达到60％。通过进食或注射来递送dsRNA有效地敲低了靶基因的表达。这些数据表明，RNAi途径成分存在于藜猪笼草中，并且通过注射或饲喂方式递送dsRNA可以诱导靶基因表达和死亡率的沉默，这表明可以开发基于RNAi的方法来控制这种害虫。