RNA Interference and Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals the Function of SfDicer1 in Sogatella furcifera Molting and Wing Expansion

Knockdown of SfDicer1 by RNA interference (RNAi) significantly inhibited the molting and wing expansion of S. furcifera. After SfDicer1 silencing, the survival rate of S. furcifera was only 46.35%, the wing deformity rate of surviving individuals was as high as 62.26%, and the molting rate was decreased significantly. Meanwhile, the transcription level of miRNA was also significantly declined. Furthermore, using a comparative transcriptome analysis, the results of KEGG functions enriched showed that DEGs are mainly enriched in Insulin signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, Hippo signaling pathway, and Hedgehog signaling pathway, etc. GO functional analysis found that DEGs are mainly enriched in structural constituent of cuticle, structural molecule activity, aminoglycan metabolic process, chitin metabolic process, and amino sugar metabolic process intracellular anatomical structure, etc. These results demonstrated that SfDicer1 maybe participated in molting development and wing expansion process of S. furcifera by regulating the transcription level of mRNA on molting and wing development signaling pathways.