Oral RNAi of diap1 results in rapid reduction of damage to potatoes in Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata

Selecting an appropriate target gene is critical to the success of oral RNA interference-based pest control. The selection of target genes has depended on their ability to induce lethality. However, the induction of lethality by oral RNAi is slow-acting, and crop damage can progress during this time. Here, we show that oral RNAi of the death-associated inhibitor of apoptosis protein 1 (diap1), unlike two conventional target genes, induces acute feeding cessation in the solanaceous pest, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata within 24 h. We also found that our designed dsRNA has high specificity and does not cause death or reduce diap1 expression in two non-target insects. Our results suggest that diap1 is an appropriate target in the context of the rapid reduction of crop damage. We propose that the phenotype of acute feeding cessation should be used as a novel criterion for selecting target genes for RNAi-based pest control.