FAR gene enables the brown planthopper to walk and jump on water in paddy field

Many insects can live on water and survive being caught in the rain. Current research has shown that insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) confer desiccation resistance to maintain water balance. In this study, we identified a fatty acyl-CoA reductase gene (NlFAR) of the rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens that is essential for the production of CHCs, and found that NlFAR is essential for N. lugens to walk and jump on water when moving from...