Identification and Characterization of Associated with Development, Metabolism and Reproduction in .

As a tropomyosin-binding component, troponin T (TnT) is essential for the Ca regulation of striated muscles' contraction and locomotion activity, but its impacts on the growth and development of insects have rarely been reported. In this study, was identified and functionally characterized in by RNA interference (RNAi) and transcriptome analysis. The of contained a 1152 bp open reading frame encoding 383 amino acids. It displayed the highest expression in late pupae and was highly expressed in the integument and CNS. Both the larval and early pupal injection of ds led to 100% cumulative mortality before the pupal-adult transition. Late pupal RNAi caused 26.01 ± 4.29% pupal mortality; the survivors successfully became adults, but 49.71 ± 6.51% died in 10 days with a dried and shriveled abdomen, poorly developed reproductive system and no offspring. Additionally, RNA sequencing results indicated that key ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone biosynthesis genes (, and ) were affected, as well as several cuticle protein, nutrition metabolism and immune-related genes, suggesting that may play prominent roles in development, metabolism and reproduction by affecting these pathways. This study could provide a brand-new target gene in the RNAi strategy for pest control.