昆虫几丁质合成关键酶功能及其RNAi技术在害虫防治中的研究进展

几丁质对昆虫的生长发育至关重要，且不存在于植物和哺乳动物中，因此其合成途径的关键酶是较为理想的杀虫剂靶标。近年来，多种害虫的几丁质合成关键酶基因被克隆和鉴定，通过RNAi技术应用于一些重要害虫的防治研究工作中。本文较为系统的总结了近些年害虫几丁质合成关键酶的基因克隆及功能研究进展，重点阐述了几丁质合成酶、海藻糖酶基因基于RNAi技术应用于害虫防治取得的研究进展，分析了RNAi技术通过转基因植物表达dsRNA（RNAi抗虫作物）以及作为核酸农药（dsRNA）直接进行作物喷施的两种应用途径，文章最后还探讨了RNAi在害虫防治中面临的主要瓶颈问题以及主要应对策略。上述较为系统的归纳和总结，目的是为今后基于几丁质合成关键酶的RNAi技术应用于害虫绿色防控研究提供有价值的理论指导。

Advance of Research in Function of Key Enzymes Involving in Chitin Synthesis and Their Application Combined with RNAi Technique in Pest Control

Chitin is crucial for the usual growth and development of insects, thus the enzymes involving in chitin synthesis can be used as promising targets for developing novel insecticides. In recent years, different synthases of various pests have been identified,which have been widely applied in pest control based on RNAi technique. In this review, the identification of key genes involving in the pathway of chitin synthesis, particularly the research advance and implication of both trehalases and chitin synthases in pest control, were summarized and analyzed. Additionally, two ways including host-induced gene silencing (expressing dsRNA in transgenic plants) and direct spraying of dsRNA as insecticide on plant leaves (nucleic acid insecticide), seemed to be the two promising approaches for implication of RNAi technology in pest control. Furthermore, the bottleneck problems and the possible ways were also analyzed and discussed in this paper. Taken together, the goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive insight for the research and implication of RNAi for crucial enzymes involving chitin synthesis pathway, which may be a valuable knowledge for further study in pest control in the future .