Chitin metabolism has long been considered promising targets for development of biorational pesticides. Considering the increasing challenges of controlling the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, the roles of chitin deacetylases (CDAs) during molting process and mite development are explored. TuCDA1 and TuCDA2 differ in expression patterns during the development process. Feeding of double-strand RNA (dsRNA) against TuCDA1 or TuCDA2 has lethal effects on the mites. Especially TuCDA2 displays a much stronger phenotype than TuCDA1 (p = 0.0003). The treated mites fail to shed the old cuticle and are trapped within exuviate until they die. The aberrant cuticle structure observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) may be responsible for the lethal phenotype of TuCDA1 and TuCDA2 knocked down mites. However, treatment with both dsRNA-CDA1 and dsRNA-CDA2 cannot significantly enhance the lethal effects of dsRNA-CDA2, which indicates partially redundant function of TuCDA1 and TuCDA2. TuCDA2 may play a key role during the molting and development process. Chitin-modifying enzyme such as TuCDA2 is potential target of RNA interference through feeding.

长期以来，几丁质代谢被认为是开发生物合理农药的有希望的目标。考虑到控制双斑叶螨（Tetranychus urticae Koch）面临的日益严峻的挑战，探索了几丁质脱乙酰酶（CDA）在蜕皮过程和螨发育过程中的作用。TuCDA1和TuCDA2在发育过程中的表达模式不同。饲喂针对TuCDA1或TuCDA2的双链 RNA (dsRNA) 对螨虫具有致死作用。尤其是TuCDA2显示出比TuCDA1强得多的表型（p = 0.0003）。处理过的螨虫不能脱落旧的角质层，并被困在蜕皮中，直到它们死亡。通过扫描电子 显微镜 (SEM) 和透射电子显微镜 (TEM)观察到的异常角质层结构可能是导致TuCDA1和TuCDA2击倒螨虫的致死表型的原因。但是，与两个dsRNA-治疗CDA1和dsRNA- CDA2不能显著提高dsRNA-的致死作用CDA2，其指示的部分冗余功能TuCDA1和TuCDA2。TuCDA2可能在蜕皮和发育过程中发挥关键作用。几丁质修饰酶，如TuCDA2 是通过喂食进行 RNA 干扰的潜在目标。