Development of RNAi methods to control the harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica

The harlequin bug (HB), Murgantia histrionica, is a major pest of cabbage family plants throughout its range in the United States. RNA interference (RNAi) is a posttranscriptional gene silencing mechanism that is showing promise as a biopesticide due to the ability to target species-specific genes necessary for growth and/or survival with synthetic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). In the present study, dsRNA stability assays revealed that nucleases...