Involvement of in Cuticle Sclerotization of the Whitefly, Middle East-Asia Minor 1.

Cuticle sclerotization is critical for insect survival. () is a phenol oxidase that plays a key role in cuticle formation and pigmentation in a variety of insects. However, the function of in whitefly, , remains unclear. In this study, we identified a gene in MEAM1 and found that was expressed in all stages. It was highly expressed in the egg stage, followed by nymph and adult. Moreover, the expression of was higher in the cuticle than in other tissues. Knockdown of in nymphs produced thinner and fragile cuticles, which significantly increased the mortality rate, extended the development duration of nymphs, and decreased the emergence rate of adults. This result demonstrates that plays an important role in the cuticle hardening of and suggests a potential management strategy using RNAi to knock down expression.