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Liu L, He W, Xu P, Wei W, Wang J, Liu K. Contribution of the transcription factor SfGATAe to Bt Cry toxin resistance in Spodoptera frugiperda through reduction of ABCC2 expression. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 267:131459. [PMID: 38593893 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Insect resistance evolution poses a significant threat to the advantages of biopesticides and transgenic crops utilizing insecticidal Cry-toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, there is limited research on the relationship between transcriptional regulation of specific toxin receptors in lepidopteran insects and their resistance to Bt toxins. Here, we report the positive regulatory role of the SfGATAe transcription factor on the expression of the ABCC2 gene in Spodoptera frugiperda. DNA regions in the SfABCC2 promoter that are vital for regulation by SfGATAe, utilizing DAP-seq technology and promoter deletion mapping. Through yeast one-hybrid assays, DNA pull-down experiments, and site-directed mutagenesis, we confirmed that the transcription factor SfGATAe regulates the core control site PBS2 in the ABCC2 target gene. Tissue-specific expression analysis has revealed that SfGATAe is involved in the regulation and expression of midgut cells in the fall armyworm. Silencing SfGATAe in fall armyworm larvae resulted in reduced expression of SfABCC2 and decreased sensitivity to Cry1Ac toxin. Overall, this study elucidated the regulatory mechanism of the transcription factor SfGATAe on the expression of the toxin receptor gene SfABCC2 and this transcriptional control mechanism impacts the resistance of the fall armyworm to Bt toxins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leilei Liu
- Center of Applied Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Wuhan University of Bioengineering, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
| | - Wenfeng He
- Center of Applied Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Wuhan University of Bioengineering, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Peiwen Xu
- Center of Applied Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Wuhan University of Bioengineering, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Center of Applied Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Wuhan University of Bioengineering, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jintao Wang
- Center of Applied Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Wuhan University of Bioengineering, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Kaiyu Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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Lye PY, Shiraki C, Fukushima Y, Takaki K, Liew MWO, Yamamoto M, Wakabayashi K, Mori H, Kotani E. Cytotoxin-mediated silk gland organ dysfunction diverts resources to enhance silkworm fecundity by potentiating nutrient-sensing IIS/TOR pathways. iScience 2024; 27:108853. [PMID: 38303707 PMCID: PMC10830876 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Energy reserves, primarily stored in the insect's fat body, are essential for physiological processes such as reproduction and cocoon formation. However, whether these processes are mutually constraining is unknown. Here, we showed that cocoon-free silkworms accumulate amino acid constituents of silk proteins in the hemolymph and maintain lipid and sugar reserves in the pupal fat body by repressing the expression of sericin and fibroin genes in the middle and posterior silk glands, respectively, via butterfly pierisin-1A catalytic domain expression. This, in turn, upregulates insulin/insulin-like signaling and target of rapamycin (IIS/TOR) signaling, which enhances vitellogenesis and accelerates ovarian development, thus contributing to increased fecundity. The impacts of semi-starvation on fecundity and egg hatchability were also less pronounced in cocoon-free silkworms compared with wildtype silkworms. These data uncover the resource allocation trade-off between cocoon formation and fecundity and demonstrate that nutritional signaling plays a role in regulating silkworm reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Ying Lye
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
| | - Chika Shiraki
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
| | - Yuta Fukushima
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
| | - Keiko Takaki
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
- Biomedical Research Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
| | - Mervyn Wing On Liew
- Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang 11800, Malaysia
| | - Masafumi Yamamoto
- ICLAS Monitoring Center, Central Institute for Experimental Animals, 3-25-12 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0821, Japan
| | - Keiji Wakabayashi
- Graduate Division of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| | - Hajime Mori
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
| | - Eiji Kotani
- Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
- Biomedical Research Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
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Yan Y, Qin DD, Yang H, Xu KK, Li C, Yang WJ. MicroR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 co-target Akt to regulate Lasioderma serricorne reproduction. INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 31:106-118. [PMID: 37350038 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
High fecundity is a common characteristic of insect pests which increases the difficulty of population control. Serine/threonine kinase Akt is an indispensable component of the insulin signaling pathway. Silencing of LsAkt severely hinders reproduction in Lasioderma serricorne, a stored product insect pest. However, the post-transcriptional pathway of LsAkt in L. serricorne remains unknown. This study identified 2 binding sites of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 in the coding sequences of LsAkt. The expression profiles of 2 microRNAs (miRNAs) and LsAkt displayed an opposite pattern during the adult stages. Luciferase reporter assay showed that novel-mir50 and miR-9c-5p could downregulate the expression of LsAkt. Overexpression of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 by injection of mimics inhibited the expression of LsAkt and reduced oviposition, decreased egg hatchability, and blocked ovarian development. It also decreased the expression of genes involved in ovarian development (LsVg and LsVgR) and the nutritional signaling pathway (LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP), and reduced the phosphorylation of Akt. Conversely, injection of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 inhibitors induced the expressions of LsAkt, LsVg, LsVgR, LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP, enhanced Akt phosphorylation level, and accelerated ovarian development. Injection of bovine insulin downregulated the expression of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 and upregulated the LsAkt expression. It also rescued the reproductive development defects associated with miR-9c-5p/novel-mir50 overexpression, forming a positive regulatory loop of insulin signaling. These results indicate that miR-9c-5p/novel-mir50 regulates the female reproduction of L. serricorne by targeting Akt in response to insulin signaling. The data also demonstrate the effects of the insulin/miRNA/Akt regulatory axis in insect reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Yan
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of Mountainous Region, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China
| | - Dong-Dong Qin
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China
| | - Hong Yang
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of Mountainous Region, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Kang-Kang Xu
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China
| | - Can Li
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China
| | - Wen-Jia Yang
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China
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Menezes A, Peixoto M, Silva M, Costa-Bartuli E, Oliveira CL, Walter-Nuno AB, Kistenmacker NDC, Pereira J, Ramos I, Paiva-Silva GO, Atella GC, Zancan P, Sola-Penna M, Gomes FM. Western diet consumption by host vertebrate promotes altered gene expression on Aedes aegypti reducing its lifespan and increasing fertility following blood feeding. Parasit Vectors 2024; 17:12. [PMID: 38184590 PMCID: PMC10770904 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-023-06095-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in low- and middle-income countries is linked to an increase in Western diet consumption, characterized by a high intake of processed foods, which impacts the levels of blood sugar and lipids, hormones, and cytokines. Hematophagous insect vectors, such as the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, rely on blood meals for reproduction and development and are therefore exposed to the components of blood plasma. However, the impact of the alteration of blood composition due to malnutrition and metabolic conditions on mosquito biology remains understudied. METHODS In this study, we investigated the impact of whole-blood alterations resulting from a Western-type diet on the biology of Ae. aegypti. We kept C57Bl6/J mice on a high-fat, high-sucrose (HFHS) diet for 20 weeks and followed biological parameters, including plasma insulin and lipid levels, insulin tolerance, and weight gain, to validate the development of metabolic syndrome. We further allowed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes to feed on mice and tracked how altered host blood composition modulated parameters of vector capacity. RESULTS Our findings identified that HFHS-fed mice resulted in reduced mosquito longevity and increased fecundity upon mosquito feeding, which correlated with alteration in the gene expression profile of nutrient sensing and physiological and metabolic markers as studied up to several days after blood ingestion. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides new insights into the overall effect of alterations of blood components on mosquito biology and its implications for the transmission of infectious diseases in conditions where the frequency of Western diet-induced metabolic syndromes is becoming more frequent. These findings highlight the importance of addressing metabolic health to further understand the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses in endemic areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Menezes
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marilia Peixoto
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Melissa Silva
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Emylle Costa-Bartuli
- The Metabolizsm' Group, Departamento de Biotecnologia Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Cinara Lima Oliveira
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Lipídeos e Lipoproteínas, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ana Beatriz Walter-Nuno
- Laboratório de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Nathan da Cruz Kistenmacker
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jessica Pereira
- Laboratorio de Ovogênese Molecular de Insetos Vetores, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Isabela Ramos
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratorio de Ovogênese Molecular de Insetos Vetores, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gabriela O Paiva-Silva
- Laboratório de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratorio de Ovogênese Molecular de Insetos Vetores, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Geórgia C Atella
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Lipídeos e Lipoproteínas, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratorio de Ovogênese Molecular de Insetos Vetores, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Patricia Zancan
- The Metabolizsm' Group, Departamento de Biotecnologia Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Mauro Sola-Penna
- The Metabolizsm' Group, Departamento de Biotecnologia Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Fabio M Gomes
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Laboratorio de Ovogênese Molecular de Insetos Vetores, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Stryapunina I, Itoe MA, Trinh Q, Vidoudez C, Du E, Mendoza L, Hulai O, Kauffman J, Carew J, Shaw WR, Catteruccia F. Precise coordination between nutrient transporters ensures fertility in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. PLoS Genet 2024; 20:e1011145. [PMID: 38285728 PMCID: PMC10852252 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 01/20/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Females from many mosquito species feed on blood to acquire nutrients for egg development. The oogenetic cycle has been characterized in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti, where after a bloodmeal, the lipid transporter lipophorin (Lp) shuttles lipids from the midgut and fat body to the ovaries, and a yolk precursor protein, vitellogenin (Vg), is deposited into the oocyte by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Our understanding of how the roles of these two nutrient transporters are mutually coordinated is however limited in this and other mosquito species. Here, we demonstrate that in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, Lp and Vg are reciprocally regulated in a timely manner to optimize egg development and ensure fertility. Defective lipid transport via Lp knockdown triggers abortive ovarian follicle development, leading to misregulation of Vg and aberrant yolk granules. Conversely, depletion of Vg causes an upregulation of Lp in the fat body in a manner that appears to be at least partially dependent on target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling, resulting in excess lipid accumulation in the developing follicles. Embryos deposited by Vg-depleted mothers are completely inviable, and are arrested early during development, likely due to severely reduced amino acid levels and protein synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that the mutual regulation of these two nutrient transporters is essential to safeguard fertility by ensuring correct nutrient balance in the developing oocyte, and validate Vg and Lp as two potential candidates for mosquito control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iryna Stryapunina
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Maurice A. Itoe
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Queenie Trinh
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Charles Vidoudez
- Harvard Center for Mass Spectrometry, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Esrah Du
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Lydia Mendoza
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Oleksandr Hulai
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jamie Kauffman
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - John Carew
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - W. Robert Shaw
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Flaminia Catteruccia
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States of America
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Yeh CT, Weng SC, Tsao PN, Shiao SH. The chaperone BiP promotes dengue virus replication and mosquito vitellogenesis in Aedes aegypti. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2023; 155:103930. [PMID: 36921733 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2023.103930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP, also known as GRP78), a chaperone and master regulator of the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, plays an essential role in several flavivirus infections, but its functional role in regulating dengue virus replication in the mosquito remains largely unknown. We here demonstrated the interaction between a dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV2) and BiP in Aedes aegypti and report the discovery of a novel functional role of BiP in mosquito vitellogenesis. Silencing Ae. aegypti BiP (AaBiP) expression resulted in the significant inhibition of DENV2 viral genome replication, viral protein production, and infectious viral particle biogenesis. Co-immunoprecipitation assays showed that the DENV2 non-structural protein 1 (NS1) interacts with the AaBiP protein, and silencing AaBiP expression led to enhanced DENV2 NS1 aggregation, indicating that AaBiP plays a role in viral protein stability. A kinetic study focusing on pulse treatment of MG132, a proteasome inhibitor, in AaBiP-silenced mosquitoes showed that DENV2 NS1 was drastically elevated, which further suggests that AaBiP-mediated viral protein degradation is mediated by proteasomal machinery. Silencing of AaBiP also resulted in a reduction in mosquito fertility and fecundity. Depletion of AaBiP inhibited mosquito vitellogenesis due to the reduction of vitellogenin mRNA and elevated aggregation of vitellogenin protein post blood meal, further suppressing ovary development and fecundity. Overall, our results suggest that AaBiP is a dual-function protein with roles in both the regulation of dengue virus replication and mosquito reproduction. Our findings will be useful in the establishment of more efficient strategies for vector-borne disease control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Ting Yeh
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shih-Che Weng
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Po-Nien Tsao
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Research Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shin-Hong Shiao
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Zhang Q, Dou W, He LQ, Yu SS, Chen JQ, Zheng LY, Wang L, Smagghe G, Wang JJ. Pannier is a key regulator of embryogenesis, pupal development and female reproduction in the insect pest Bactrocera dorsalis. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2023; 79:1352-1361. [PMID: 36427005 DOI: 10.1002/ps.7305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most arthropods are famous for their large reproductive capacity, with the ovary playing a vital role in the process. The study of the regulatory mechanisms of ovarian development may have the potential for a reproduction-based pest management strategy. GATA-binding transcription factors (GATAs) as important regulatory factors mediate many physiological processes, including development, immunity, insecticide resistance and reproduction. The Pannier (pnr), a member of GATA family, was confirmed to be involved in ovarian development of Bactrocera dorsalis in our previous study. However, the direct evidence of pnr regulating the fly ovarian development is still lacking. RESULTS We used CRISPR/Cas9 to create Bdpnr loss-of-function mutations. Homozygous Bdpnr-/- mutants were nonviable, with most individuals dying during embryogenesis, some surviving to the larval stages, and the remaining few dying during pupation. In contrast, heterozygous individuals reached the adult stage, but ovarian development was disrupted, with concomitant decreases in egg laying and hatching rates. We also found that two genes encoding vitellogenin proteins (BdVg1 and BdVg2) and the vitellogenin receptor (BdVgR) were significantly down-regulated in heterozygous mutants compared to wild-type controls. CONCLUSION These results indicate that Bdpnr is required for embryonic and post-embryonic development, including the formation of ovaries. Bdpnr could therefore be considered as a molecular target for tephritid fly pest control. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wei Dou
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Li-Qiang He
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Shan-Shan Yu
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jia-Qing Chen
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Li-Yuan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Lin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Guy Smagghe
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jin-Jun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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8
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Wang J, Yu S, Wang L, Liu T, Yang X, Hu X, Wang Y. Capsaicin decreases fecundity in the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi by inhibiting the target of rapamycin signaling pathway. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:458. [PMID: 36510333 PMCID: PMC9743593 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05593-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mosquito-borne diseases threaten human health, but mosquito control faces various challenges, such as resistance to chemical insecticides. Thus, there is an urgent need for more effective and environment-friendly control agents. Capsaicin can downregulate the mTOR signaling pathway of tumor cells. The TOR signaling pathway can mediate the expression of vitellogenin (Vg) to regulate the fecundity of insects. Whether capsaicin has the potential to inhibit fecundity of mosquitoes by regulating TOR pathway and Vg expression is currently unclear. METHODS Anopheles stephensi were fed with blood of mice administered capsaicin by gavage or sugar containing capsaicin followed by a blood feeding with normal mice. Then, the engorged female mosquitoes were tubed individually and underwent oviposition. The eggs and individuals in the subsequent development stages, including larvae, pupae, and emerging adults, were counted and compared between the capsaicin treatment and control groups. Additionally, total RNA and protein were extracted from the engorged mosquitoes at 24 h post blood feeding. Real-time PCR and western blot were performed to detect the transcriptional level and protein expression of the key fecundity-related molecules of mosquitoes. Finally, TOR signaling pathway was inhibited via rapamycin treatment, and changes in fecundity and the key molecule transcription and protein expression levels were examined to verify the role of TOR signaling pathway in the effect of capsaicin on mosquito fecundity. RESULTS The laid and total eggs (laid eggs plus retained eggs) of An. stephensi were significantly reduced by feeding on the blood of capsaicin-treated mice (P < 0.01) or capsaicin-containing sugar (P < 0.01) compared with those in the control group. Moreover, the transcription and protein expression or phosphorylation levels of fecundity-related molecules, such as Akt, TOR, S6K, and Vg, were significantly decreased by capsaicin treatment. However, the effects disappeared between control group and CAP group after the TOR signaling pathway was inhibited by rapamycin. CONCLUSIONS Capsaicin can decrease the fecundity of An. stephensi by inhibiting the TOR signaling pathway. These data can help us to not only understand the effect of capsaicin on the reproductive ability of An. stephensi and its underlying mechanism, but also develop new efficient, safe, and pollution-free mosquito vector control agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
| | - Shasha Yu
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
| | - Luhan Wang
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
| | - Tingting Liu
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
| | - Xuesen Yang
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
| | - Xiaobing Hu
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Western Theater Command, Lanzhou, 730020 China
| | - Ying Wang
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Tropical Medicine, College of Military Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University, No. 30 Gaotanyan St, Shapingba Dis, Chongqing, 400038 China
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9
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Walkowiak-Nowicka K, Chowański S, Pacholska-Bogalska J, Adamski Z, Kuczer M, Rosiński G. Antheraea peptide and its analog: Their influence on the maturation of the reproductive system, embryogenesis, and early larval development in Tenebrio molitor L. beetle. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278473. [PMID: 36454989 PMCID: PMC9714928 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, many new immunologically active peptides from insects have been identified. Unfortunately, in most cases, their physiological functions are not fully known. One example is yamamarin, a pentapeptide isolated from the caterpillars of the Antheraea yamamai moth. This peptide has strong antiproliferative properties and is probably involved in the regulation of diapause. Additionally, antiviral activity was discovered. The results of the research presented in this paper are, to our knowledge, the first attempt to characterize the biological effects of yamamarin on the functioning of the reproductive processes and embryonic development of insects using a model species, the beetle Tenebrio molitor, a commonly known pest of grain storage. Simultaneously, we tested the possible activity of the molecule in an in vivo system. In this research, we present the multifaceted effects of yamamarin in this beetle. We show that yamamarin influences ovarian growth and development, maturation of terminal oocytes, level of vitellogenin gene transcript, the number of laid eggs, duration of embryonic development, and larval hatching. In experiments with palmitic acid-conjugated yamamarin (C16-yamamarin), we also showed that this peptide is a useful starting molecule for the synthesis of biopharmaceuticals or new peptidomimetics with gonadotropic activity and effects on embryonic development. The data obtained additionally provide new knowledge about the possible function of yamamarin in insect physiology, pointing to the important role of this pentapeptide as a regulator of reproductive processes and embryonic development in a heterologous bioassay with T. molitor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Walkowiak-Nowicka
- Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- * E-mail:
| | - Szymon Chowański
- Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Joanna Pacholska-Bogalska
- Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Zbigniew Adamski
- Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- Laboratory of Electron and Confocal Microscopy, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Mariola Kuczer
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Rosiński
- Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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10
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Pinch M, Muka T, Kandel Y, Lamsal M, Martinez N, Teixeira M, Boudko DY, Hansen IA. General control nonderepressible 1 interacts with cationic amino acid transporter 1 and affects Aedes aegypti fecundity. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:383. [PMID: 36271393 PMCID: PMC9587632 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05461-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The amino acid transporter protein cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT1) is part of the nutrient sensor in the fat body of mosquitoes. A member of the SLC7 family of cationic amino acid transporters, it is paramount for the detection of elevated amino acid levels in the mosquito hemolymph after a blood meal and the subsequent changes in gene expression in the fat body. METHODS We performed a re-annotation of Aedes aegypti cationic amino acid transporters (CATs) and selected the C-terminal tail of CAT1 to perform a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify putative interactors of this protein. One interesting interacting protein we identified was general control nonderepressible 1 (GCN1). We determined the expression pattern of GCN1 in several adult organs and structures using qRT-PCR and western blots. Finally, we knocked down GCN1 using double-stranded RNA and identified changes in downstream signaling intermediates and the effects of knockdown on vitellogenesis and fecundity. RESULTS In a screen for Ae. aegypti CAT1-interacting proteins we identified GCN1 as a putative interactor. GCN1 is highly expressed in the ovaries and fat body of the mosquito. We provide evidence that eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit alpha (eIF2α) phosphorylation changed during vitellogenesis and that RNA interference knockdown of GCN1 in whole mosquitoes reduced egg clutch sizes of treated mosquitoes relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS Aedes aegypti CAT1 and GCN1 are likely interacting partners and GCN1 is likely necessary for proper egg development. Our data suggest that GCN1 is part of a nutrient sensor mechanism in various mosquito tissues involved in vitellogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Pinch
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Theodore Muka
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Yashoda Kandel
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Mahesh Lamsal
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Nathan Martinez
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | | | | | - Immo A Hansen
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA.
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11
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Zhang Q, Dou W, Taning CNT, Yu SS, Yuan GR, Shang F, Smagghe G, Wang JJ. miR-309a is a regulator of ovarian development in the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010411. [PMID: 36112661 PMCID: PMC9518882 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Fecundity is arguably one of the most important life history traits, as it is closely tied to fitness. Most arthropods are recognized for their extreme reproductive capacity. For example, a single female of the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis, a highly invasive species that is one of the most destructive agricultural pests worldwide, can lay more than 3000 eggs during its life span. The ovary is crucial for insect reproduction and its development requires further investigation at the molecular level. We report here that miR-309a is a regulator of ovarian development in B. dorsalis. Our bioinformatics and molecular studies have revealed that miR-309a binds the transcription factor pannier (GATA-binding factor A/pnr), and this activates yolk vitellogenin 2 (Vg 2) and vitellogenin receptor (VgR) advancing ovarian development. We further show that miR-309a is under the control of juvenile hormone (JH) and independent from 20-hydroxyecdysone. Thus, we identified a JH-controlled miR-309a/pnr axis that regulates Vg2 and VgR to control the ovarian development. This study has further enhanced our understanding of molecular mechanisms governing ovarian development and insect reproduction. It provides a background for identifying targets for controlling important Dipteran pests. The ovary is a very critical organ for insect reproduction. Especially, many insect pests are famous for their large reproductive capacity. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in ovarian development could significantly contribute in the development of new insect pest control strategies. In this study, we report that miR-309a regulates the development of the ovary in an important dipteran pest, B. dorsalis, through a transcriptional factor, pannier (GATA-binding factor A/pnr), which in turn directly mediates the expression of yolk vitellogenin 2 (Vg 2) and vitellogenin receptor (VgR). Moreover, miR-309a is under the upstream control of juvenile hormone (JH). Here, in Dipterans, a novel JH-miR-309a-pnr-Vg-related genes regulatory pathway was found in ovarian development. This finding advances our understanding of a mechanism regulating insect ovarian development and provides new insights for potential targets to control dipteran pests through the reproductive strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
| | - Wei Dou
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
| | - Clauvis Nji Tizi Taning
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Shan-Shan Yu
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
| | - Guo-Rui Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
| | - Feng Shang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
| | - Guy Smagghe
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- * E-mail: (GS); (J-JW)
| | - Jin-Jun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- International China-Belgium Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Crop Pest Control between Southwest University in China and Ghent University in Belgium, Chongqing, China
- * E-mail: (GS); (J-JW)
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12
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Wang N, Zhang C, Chen M, Shi Z, Zhou Y, Shi X, Zhou W, Zhu Z. Characterization of MicroRNAs Associated with Reproduction in the Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:7808. [PMID: 35887156 PMCID: PMC9316625 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Insects have a robust capacity to produce offspring for propagation, and the reproductive events of female insects have been achieved at the molecular and physiological levels via regulatory gene pathways. However, the roles of MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in the reproductive development of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, remain largely unexplored. To understand the roles of miRNAs in reproductive development, miRNAs were identified by Solexa sequencing in short-winged (SW) female adults of BPH. Small RNA libraries derived from three developmental phases (1 day, 3 days, and 5 days after emergence) were constructed and sequenced. We identified 905 miRNAs, including 263 known and 642 novel miRNAs. Among them, a total of 43 miRNAs were differentially expressed in the three developmental phases, and 14,568 putative targets for 43 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were predicted by TargetScan and miRanda. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of the predicted miRNA targets illustrated the putative roles for these DEMs in reproduction. The progress events were annotated, including oogenesis, lipid biosynthetic process, and related pathways such as apoptosis, ABC transporters, and amino acid metabolism. Four highly abundant DEMs (miR-9a-5p, miR-34-5p, miR-275-3p, and miR-317-3p) were further screened, and miR-34-5p was confirmed to be involved in the regulation of reproduction. Overexpression of miR-34-5p via injecting its mimics reduced fecundity and decreased Vg expression. Moreover, target genes prediction for miR-34-5p showed they might be involved in 20E signaling cascades, apoptosis, and gonadal development, including hormone receptor 4 (HR4), caspase-1 (Cp-1), and spermatogenesis-associated protein 20 (SPATA20). These findings provide a valuable resource for future studies on the role of miRNAs in BPH reproductive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ni Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Chao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Min Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Zheyi Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Ying Zhou
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Xiaoxiao Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
| | - Wenwu Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
| | - Zengrong Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects Pests, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (N.W.); (C.Z.); (M.C.); (Z.S.); (X.S.); (W.Z.)
- Hainan Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572000, China;
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13
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Shen W, Cao S, Liu J, Zhang W, Chen J, Li JF. Overexpression of an Osa-miR162a Derivative in Rice Confers Cross-Kingdom RNA Interference-Mediated Brown Planthopper Resistance without Perturbing Host Development. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222312652. [PMID: 34884461 PMCID: PMC8657652 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222312652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Rice is a main food crop for more than half of the global population. The brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most destructive insect pests of rice. Currently, repeated overuse of chemical insecticides represents a common practice in agriculture for BPH control, which can induce insect tolerance and provoke environmental concerns. This situation calls for innovative and widely applicable strategies for rice protection against BPH. Here we report that the rice osa-miR162a can mediate cross-kingdom RNA interference (RNAi) by targeting the NlTOR (Target of rapamycin) gene of BPH that regulates the reproduction process. Through artificial diet or injection, osa-miR162a mimics repressed the NlTOR expression and impaired the oviposition of BPH adults. Consistently, overproduced osa-miR162a in transgenic rice plants compromised the fecundity of BPH adults fed with these plants, but meanwhile perturbed root and grain development. To circumvent this issue, we generated osa-miR162a-m1, a sequence-optimized osa-miR162a, by decreasing base complementarity to rice endogenous target genes while increasing base complementarity to NlTOR. Transgenic overexpression of osa-miR162a-m1 conferred rice resistance to BPH without detectable developmental penalty. This work reveals the first cross-kingdom RNAi mechanism in rice-BPH interactions and inspires a potentially useful approach for improving rice resistance to BPH. We also introduce an effective strategy to uncouple unwanted host developmental perturbation from desirable cross-kingdom RNAi benefits for overexpressed plant miRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenzhong Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; (W.S.); (S.C.); (J.L.); (W.Z.)
| | - Shanni Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; (W.S.); (S.C.); (J.L.); (W.Z.)
| | - Jinhui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; (W.S.); (S.C.); (J.L.); (W.Z.)
| | - Wenqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; (W.S.); (S.C.); (J.L.); (W.Z.)
| | - Jie Chen
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
- Correspondence: (J.C.); (J.-F.L.); Tel./Fax: +86-20-39943513 (J.-F.L.)
| | - Jian-Feng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; (W.S.); (S.C.); (J.L.); (W.Z.)
- Correspondence: (J.C.); (J.-F.L.); Tel./Fax: +86-20-39943513 (J.-F.L.)
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14
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Elgendy AM, Mohamed AA, Duvic B, Tufail M, Takeda M. Involvement of Cis-Acting Elements in Molecular Regulation of JH-Mediated Vitellogenin Gene 2 of Female Periplaneta americana. Front Physiol 2021; 12:723072. [PMID: 34526913 PMCID: PMC8435907 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.723072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Vitellogenins (Vgs) are yolk protein precursors that are regulated by juvenile hormone (JH) and/or 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in insects. JH acts as the principal gonadotropin that stimulates vitellogenesis in hemimetabolous insects. In this study, we cloned and characterized the Periplaneta americana Vitellogenin 2 (Vg2) promoter. Multiple sites for putative transcription factor binding were predicted for the 1,804 bp Vg2 promoter region, such as the Broad-Complex, ecdysone response element (EcRE), GATA, Hairy, JH response element (JHRE), and Methoprene (Met)-binding motif, among others. Luciferase reporter assay has identified that construct -177 bp is enough to support JH III induction but not 20E suppression. This 38 bp region (from -177 to -139 bp) contains two conserved response element half-sites separated by 2 nucleotides spacer (DR2) and is designated as Vg2RE (-168GAGTCACGGAGTCGCCGCTG-149). Mutation assay and luciferase assay data using mutated constructs verified the crucial role of G residues in Vg2RE for binding the isolated fat body nuclear protein. In Sf9 cells, a luciferase reporter placed under the control of a minimal promoter containing Vg2RE was induced by JH III in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Nuclear proteins isolated from previtellogenic female fat body cells bound to Vg2RE, and this binding was outcompeted by a 50-fold excess of cold Drosophila melanogaster DR4 and Galleria mellonella JH binding protein response elements (Chorion factor-I/Ultraspiracle). Affinity pull-down experiment with nuclear extracts of previtellogenic female fat body, using 31-bp probe Vg2RE as bait, yielded a 71 kDa candidate nuclear protein that may mediate the regulatory action of the JH III.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azza M Elgendy
- Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.,Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Amr A Mohamed
- Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | | | - Muhammad Tufail
- Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan.,Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Makio Takeda
- Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan
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15
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Jin B, Zhao Y, Liu P, Sun Y, Li X, Zhang X, Chen XG, Gu J. The direct regulation of Aalbdsx on AalVgR is indispensable for ovarian development in Aedes albopictus. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2021; 77:1654-1667. [PMID: 33205515 DOI: 10.1002/ps.6185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aedes albopictus is an important vector with an extensive worldwide distribution. Only female mosquitoes play a significant role in the transmission of pathogens. Doublesex (dsx) is a central nexus gene in the insect somatic sex determination hierarchy. RESULTS In this study, we characterized the full-length sex-specific splicing forms of the Ae. albopictus dsx (Aalbdsx) gene. Then, we identified 15 direct target genes of DSX in adult females using digital gene expression combined with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) by performing a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay with specific DSX antibodies. Knockdown of Aalbdsx suppressed ovarian development and decreased the transcript levels of the Aalbdsx target vitellogenin receptor (VgR) gene, whereas vitellogenin (Vg) expression showed an increase in the fat body. Genes in the major Vg regulatory pathway were also up-regulated. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that both Vg and VgR are direct target genes of Aalbdsx and that direct regulation of Aalbdsx on VgR is indispensable for ovarian development in Ae. albopictus, which not only provides a reference for the further elucidation of the evolutionarily conserved role of dsx in Ae. albopictus sexual differentiation but also reveals potential molecular targets for application to the development of sterile male mosquitoes to be released for vector control. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binbin Jin
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yijie Zhao
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Peiwen Liu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yan Sun
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaocong Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiao-Guang Chen
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jinbao Gu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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16
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Zhou J, Chen J, Shu Y. Lead stress affects the reproduction of Spodoptera litura but not by regulating the vitellogenin gene promoter. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2021; 208:111581. [PMID: 33396104 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) stress affects hormone-mediated responses (e.g., reproduction) in insects. In this study, the effects of Pb stress (12.5-50 mg Pb/kg in larval artificial diets) on the reproduction of the common cutworm Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were investigated after 7 generations. The results showed that Pb stress did not reduce the longevity of adult females, but 50 mg Pb/kg significantly reduced the longevity of adult males, regardless of the generation. After 50 mg Pb/kg stress for one or 7 generations, the peak time of egg-laying was delayed, and egg production and hatchability were decreased significantly. The vitellin content in eggs was significantly inhibited by Pb stress. The S. litura vitellogenin (Vg) gene promoter was cloned and analyzed. Multiple putative transcription factors were predicted for the 2321 bp Vg promoter region, including the TATA box, GATA, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, Broad-Complex (BR-C) binding sites, etc. The fragment from -2222 to -211 bp of the Vg promoter was the activation domain for Vg, whereas the region from -211 to -55 bp repressed the activity of the Vg promoter. The construct promoter (-782/+76) in Trichoplusia ni (Hi5) cells significantly improved Vg expression, which was not affected by Pb stress (1 or 10 mg/ml). Therefore, Pb stress significantly inhibited the reproduction of S. litura but not by regulating the Vg promoter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialiang Zhou
- School of Life Sciences, Jinggangshan University, Ji'an, 343009, China
| | - Jin Chen
- Department of Ecology, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Yinghua Shu
- Department of Ecology, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
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17
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Sheldon KS, Padash M, Carter AW, Marshall KE. Different amplitudes of temperature fluctuation induce distinct transcriptomic and metabolomic responses in the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb233239. [PMID: 33139393 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.233239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Most studies exploring molecular and physiological responses to temperature have focused on constant temperature treatments. To gain a better understanding of the impact of fluctuating temperatures, we investigated the effects of increased temperature variation on Phanaeus vindex dung beetles across levels of biological organization. Specifically, we hypothesized that increased temperature variation is energetically demanding. We predicted that thermal sensitivity of metabolic rate and energetic reserves would be reduced with increasing fluctuation. To test this, we examined the responses of dung beetles to constant (20°C), low fluctuation (20±5°C), or high fluctuation (20±12°C) temperature treatments using respirometry, assessment of energetic reserves and HPLC-MS-based metabolomics. We found no significant differences in metabolic rate or energetic reserves, suggesting increased fluctuations were not energetically demanding. To understand why there was no effect of increased amplitude of temperature fluctuation on energetics, we assembled and annotated a de novo transcriptome, finding non-overlapping transcriptomic and metabolomic responses of beetles exposed to different fluctuations. We found that 58 metabolites increased in abundance in both fluctuation treatments, but 15 only did so in response to high-amplitude fluctuations. We found that 120 transcripts were significantly upregulated following acclimation to any fluctuation, but 174 were upregulated only in beetles from the high-amplitude fluctuation treatment. Several differentially expressed transcripts were associated with post-translational modifications to histones that support a more open chromatin structure. Our results demonstrate that acclimation to different temperature fluctuations is distinct and may be supported by increasing transcriptional plasticity. Our results indicate for the first time that histone modifications may underlie rapid acclimation to temperature variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly S Sheldon
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Mojgan Padash
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Amanda W Carter
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Katie E Marshall
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
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18
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Zhu H, Zheng S, Xu J, Wu Q, Song Q, Ge L. The Amino Acid-Mediated TOR Pathway Regulates Reproductive Potential and Population Growth in Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae). Front Physiol 2020; 11:617237. [PMID: 33329069 PMCID: PMC7733968 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.617237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The predatory mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter, feeds on brown planthopper (BPH) eggs that are deposited on rice and gramineous plants surrounding rice fields. The development and reproduction of C. lividipennis are inhibited by feeding on BPH eggs from gramineous species, and the underlining regulatory mechanism for this phenomenon is unclear. In the present study, HPLC-MS/MS analysis revealed that the concentrations of six amino acids (AAs:Ala, Arg, Ser, Lys, Thr, and Pro) were significantly higher in rice than in five gramineous species. When C. lividipennis fed on gramineous plants with BPH eggs, expression of several genes in the target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway (Rheb, TOR, and S6K) were significantly lower than that in the insects fed on rice plants with BPH eggs. Treatment of C. lividipennis females with rapamycin, dsRheb, dsTOR, or dsS6K caused a decrease in Rheb, TOR, and S6K expression, and these effects were partially rescued by the juvenile hormone (JH) analog, methoprene. Dietary dsTOR treatment significantly influenced a number of physiological parameters and resulted in impaired predatory capacity, fecundity, and population growth. This study indicates that these six AAs play an important role in the mediated-TOR pathway, which in turn regulates vitellogenin (Vg) synthesis, reproduction, and population growth in C. lividipennis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haowen Zhu
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Sui Zheng
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Jinming Xu
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Qing Wu
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Qisheng Song
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Linquan Ge
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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19
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Awde DN, Skandalis A, Richards MH. Vitellogenin expression corresponds with reproductive status and caste in a primitively eusocial bee. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 127:104113. [PMID: 32890626 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2020.104113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Vitellogenin (vg) expression is consistently associated with variation in insect phenotypes, particularly egg-laying. Primitively eusocial species, such as eusocial sweat bees, have behaviourally totipotent castes, in which each female is capable of high levels of ovarian development. Few studies have investigated vg expression patterns in primitively eusocial insects, and only one study has focused on a primitively eusocial bee. Here we use a primitively eusocial sweat bee, Lasioglossum laevissimum, and Real Time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to investigate the relationship between vg expression, castes, and variation in phenotypes associated with castes differences. These assays showed that females with high ovarian development had the highest levels of vg expression, and that vg expression levels reflected the reproductive status of females first and caste second. This is in contrast to vg expression patterns observed in advanced eusocial queens and workers, which differ in vg expression based on caste and have caste-specific vg expression patterns. Furthermore, future queens (gynes) do not have ovarian development and had similar vg expression levels to early spring foundresses, which do have ovarian development, supporting Vg's function as a transporter of lipids and amino acids before diapause.
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Affiliation(s)
- David N Awde
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, KY, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, ON, Canada.
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20
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Zhu S, Liu F, Zeng H, Li N, Ren C, Su Y, Zhou S, Wang G, Palli SR, Wang J, Qin Y, Li S. Insulin/IGF signaling and TORC1 promote vitellogenesis via inducing juvenile hormone biosynthesis in the American cockroach. Development 2020; 147:147/20/dev188805. [PMID: 33097549 DOI: 10.1242/dev.188805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Vitellogenesis, including vitellogenin (Vg) production in the fat body and Vg uptake by maturing oocytes, is of great importance for the successful reproduction of adult females. The endocrinal and nutritional regulation of vitellogenesis differs distinctly in insects. Here, the complex crosstalk between juvenile hormone (JH) and the two nutrient sensors insulin/IGF signaling (IIS) and target of rapamycin complex1 (TORC1), was investigated to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of vitellogenesis regulation in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana Our data showed that a block of JH biosynthesis or JH action arrested vitellogenesis, in part by inhibiting the expression of doublesex (Dsx), a key transcription factor gene involved in the sex determination cascade. Depletion of IIS or TORC1 blocked both JH biosynthesis and vitellogenesis. Importantly, the JH analog methoprene, but not bovine insulin (to restore IIS) and amino acids (to restore TORC1 activity), restored vitellogenesis in the neck-ligated (IIS-, TORC1- and JH-deficient) and rapamycin-treated (TORC1- and JH-deficient) cockroaches. Combining classic physiology with modern molecular techniques, we have demonstrated that IIS and TORC1 promote vitellogenesis, mainly via inducing JH biosynthesis in the American cockroach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiming Zhu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.,Guangmeiyuan R&D Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, South China Normal University, Meizhou 514779, China
| | - Fangfang Liu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Huanchao Zeng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.,Guangmeiyuan R&D Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, South China Normal University, Meizhou 514779, China
| | - Na Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.,Guangmeiyuan R&D Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, South China Normal University, Meizhou 514779, China
| | - Chonghua Ren
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Yunlin Su
- Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement Center South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Shutang Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
| | - Guirong Wang
- Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Subba Reddy Palli
- Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA
| | - Jian Wang
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Yiru Qin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Sheng Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China .,Guangmeiyuan R&D Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, South China Normal University, Meizhou 514779, China
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21
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Ge L, Jiang L, Zheng S, Zhou Y, Wu Q, Liu F. Frizzled 2 Functions in the Regulation of TOR-Mediated Embryonic Development and Fecundity in Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter. Front Physiol 2020; 11:579233. [PMID: 33041875 PMCID: PMC7526694 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.579233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter, is an important predator of rice planthoppers in Asia. In a previous study, C. lividipennis fed on gramineous weeds with brown planthopper (BPH) eggs had reduced development compared to those fed on rice with BPH eggs. In the current study, the concentrations of selected amino acids (AAs) were higher in rice than five gramineous species, which might explain the enhanced growth of C. lividipennis on rice. When C. lividipennis was fed on AA-deprived artificial diets, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was inhibited. Furthermore, C. lividipennis females silenced for expression of Frizzled 2 (Fz2) showed a significant reduction in the Wnt/β-catenin and target of rapamycin (TOR) pathways. Silencing Fz2 led to decreased expression of the vitellogenin gene (Vg), lower Vg accumulation in oocytes, reduced soluble protein in ovaries and fat bodies, reduced titers of juvenile hormone, prolonged preoviposition periods, and lower predation capacity, body weight, and egg numbers as controlled to controls. Fz2 silencing resulted in undeveloped ovaries and the inhibition of oocyte growth in the ovarioles, resulting in decreased numbers of offspring and reduced hatching rates. The silencing of Fz2 also resulted in aberrant embryos with undeveloped eyespots and organs, suggesting that Fz2 is an essential gene for embryonic development, oogenesis, and egg maturation. In summary, this study established a potential link between Wnt and TOR pathways, which interact synergistically to regulate C. lividipennis reproduction in response to AA signals. These results provide valuable new information that can be applied to large-scale rearing of C. lividipennis predators, which is important for reducing planthopper damage in rice fields.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Fang Liu
- School of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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22
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Halim MA, Tan FHP, Azlan A, Rasyid II, Rosli N, Shamsuddin S, Azzam G. Ageing, Drosophila melanogaster and Epigenetics. Malays J Med Sci 2020; 27:7-19. [PMID: 32684802 PMCID: PMC7337951 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2020.27.3.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Ageing is a phenomenon where the accumulation of all the stresses that alter the functions of living organisms, halter them from maintaining their physiological balance and eventually lead to death. The emergence of epigenetic tremendously contributed to the knowledge of ageing. Epigenetic changes in cells or tissues like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation, modification of histone proteins, transcriptional modification and also the involvement of non-coding DNA has been documented to be associated with ageing. In order to study ageing, scientists have taken advantage of several potential organisms to aid them in their study. Drosophila melanogaster has been an essential model in establishing current understanding of the mechanism of ageing as they possess several advantages over other competitors like having homologues to more than 75% of human disease genes, having 50% of Drosophila genes are homologues to human genes and most importantly they are genetically amenable. Here, we would like to summarise the extant knowledge about ageing and epigenetic process and the role of Drosophila as an ideal model to study epigenetics in association with ageing process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mardani Abdul Halim
- USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Florence Hui Ping Tan
- USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Azali Azlan
- USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Ian Ilham Rasyid
- School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia
| | - Nurlina Rosli
- School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Shaharum Shamsuddin
- USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia
| | - Ghows Azzam
- USM-RIKEN International Centre for Ageing Science (URICAS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
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23
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Development of fly tolerance to consuming a high-protein diet requires physiological, metabolic and transcriptional changes. Biogerontology 2020; 21:619-636. [PMID: 32468146 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-020-09880-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Mortality in insects consuming high-protein-and-low-carbohydrate diets resembles a type III lifespan curve with increased mortality at an early age and few survivors that live a relatively long lifespan. We selected for a Drosophila line able to live for a long time on an imbalanced high-protein-low-carbohydrate diet by carrying out five rounds of breeding to select for the most long-lived survivors. Adaptation to this diet in the selected line was studied at the biochemical, physiological and transcriptomic levels. The selected line of flies consumed less of the imbalanced food but also accumulated more storage metabolites: glycogen, triacylglycerides, and trehalose. Selected flies also had a higher activity of alanine transaminase and a higher urea content. Adaptation of the selected line on the transcriptomic level was characterized by down-regulation of genes encoding serine endopeptidases (Jon25i, Jon25ii, betaTry, and others) but up-regulation of genes encoding proteins related to the immune system, such as antimicrobial peptides, Turandot-family humoral factors, hexamerin isoforms, and vitellogenin. These sets of down- and up-regulated genes were similar to those observed in fruit flies with suppressed juvenile hormone signaling. Our data show that the physiological adaptation of fruit flies to a high-protein-low-carbohydrate diet occurs via intuitive pathways, namely a decrease in food consumption, conversion of amino acids into ketoacids to compensate for the lack of carbohydrate, and accumulation of storage metabolites to eliminate the negative effects of excess amino acids. Nevertheless, transcriptomic adaptation occurs in a counter-intuitive way likely via an influence of gut microbiota on food digestion.
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24
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Liu H, Lin Y, Gu J, Ruan Y, Shen G, Zhang Y, Wang H, Meng Z, Li K, Xia Q. The increase of amino acids induces the expression of vitellogenin after spinning in the silkworm Bombyx mori. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2019; 118:103913. [PMID: 31302015 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Silkworms are economically important insects because of the value of their silk. After finishing silk spinning, silkworms begin another important physiological process, vitellogenesis. In this study, we explored the relationship between silk spinning and vitellogenin (BmVg) expression in silkworms. In silkworms with the silk fibroin heavy chain gene knocked-out, the concentration of amino acids in the hemolymph was found to be significantly higher than that in the wild type, and the expression of BmVg was advanced at day 7 of the fifth instar stage and 0 h after spinning. Furthermore, through culturing fat body in vitro with different substances treatment including glucose, trehalose, amino acids, 20-hydroxyecdysone, and insulin, we found that only amino acids could induce BmVg expression. RNA interference of BmTOR1 in female silkworms could down-regulate BmVg transcription, resulting in shortened egg ducts and smaller eggs relative to the control. Therefore, these results showed that amino acids could induce BmVg expression through the TOR signaling pathway. Fat body cultured with amino acids in vitro and experiments involving amino acids injected into the silkworm showed that the majority of main amino acids of silk protein could induce BmVg expression. These results suggested that BmVg expression is related to silk spinning and this study would lay a foundation for elucidating the stage specificity expression of BmVg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongling Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Ying Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Jianjian Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Yang Ruan
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Guanwang Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Yujing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Huijuan Wang
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Ziwang Meng
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Kairong Li
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
| | - Qingyou Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Biological Science Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing 400716, China.
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25
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Bottino-Rojas V, Pereira LOR, Silva G, Talyuli OAC, Dunkov BC, Oliveira PL, Paiva-Silva GO. Non-canonical transcriptional regulation of heme oxygenase in Aedes aegypti. Sci Rep 2019; 9:13726. [PMID: 31551499 PMCID: PMC6760526 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49396-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Heme oxygenase (HO) is a ubiquitous enzyme responsible for heme breakdown, which yields carbon monoxide (CO), biliverdin (BV) and ferrous ion. Here we show that the Aedes aegypti heme oxygenase gene (AeHO - AAEL008136) is expressed in different developmental stages and tissues. AeHO expression increases after a blood meal in the midgut, and its maximal transcription levels overlaps with the maximal rate of the further modified A. aegypti biglutaminyl-biliverdin (AeBV) pigment production. HO is a classical component of stress response in eukaryotic cells, being activated under oxidative stress or increased heme levels. Indeed, the final product of HO activity in the mosquito midgut, AeBV, exerts a protective antioxidant activity. AeHO, however, does not seem to be under a classical redox-sensitive transcriptional regulation, being unresponsive to heme itself, and even down regulated when insects face a pro-oxidant insult. In contrast, AeHO gene expression responds to nutrient sensing mechanisms, through the target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway. This unusual transcriptional control of AeHO, together with the antioxidant properties of AeBV, suggests that heme degradation by HO, in addition to its important role in protection of Aedes aegypti against heme exposure, also acts as a digestive feature, being an essential adaptation to blood feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Bottino-Rojas
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Luiza O R Pereira
- Laboratório de Pesquisas em Leishmaniose, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-360, Brazil
| | - Gabriela Silva
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Octavio A C Talyuli
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Boris C Dunkov
- Center for Insect Science, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0106, USA
| | - Pedro L Oliveira
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Gabriela O Paiva-Silva
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil.
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26
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Liu H, Lin Y, Shen G, Gu J, Ruan Y, Wu J, Zhang Y, Li K, Long W, Jia L, Xia Q. A novel GATA transcription factor GATAβ4 promotes vitellogenin transcription and egg formation in the silkworm Bombyx mori. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 107:10-18. [PMID: 30639701 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Revised: 12/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
GATA transcription factors (GATAs) are widely expressed among various organisms and belong to the zinc finger protein family. GATA transcription factors play important roles in the proliferation, differentiation, and development of eukaryotes. Previous studies have shown that GATA participates in oogenesis by selective splicing in silkworms. In this study, we investigated the function of GATAs during vitellogenesis using female silkworms (Bombyx mori). Six types of GATA transcription factors were successfully cloned in the fat body of silkworms during the wandering stage and only BmGATAβ4 induced the activity of the Bombyx mori vitellogenin (BmVg) promoter. Furthermore, BmVg and BmGATAβ4 exhibited similar expression patterns in the fat body of female silkworms during the wandering stage. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays, cell transfection assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation showed that BmGATAβ4 was involved in regulating the transcription of BmVg by directly binding to the GATA cis-response element 1 (CRE1) and GATA cis-response element 2 (CRE2) in the promoter of the BmVg gene. RNA interference of BmGATAβ4 in female silkworms downregulated BmVg transcription, resulting in a decrease in egg size and shortening of the length of egg tubes relative to the control. In summary, our results indicated that BmGATAβ4 bound to the GATA CRE1 and CRE2 motifs in the BmVg promoter to upregulate BmVg expression in the fat body of female silkworms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongling Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Ying Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Engineering and Technology Research Center for Novel Silk Materials, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Guanwang Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Engineering and Technology Research Center for Novel Silk Materials, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Jianjian Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Yang Ruan
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Jinxin Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Yujing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Kairong Li
- College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Wei Long
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Linbang Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China
| | - Qingyou Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Sericultural Science, Chongqing, 400716, China; Chongqing Engineering and Technology Research Center for Novel Silk Materials, Chongqing, 400716, China.
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Zhen C, Yang H, Luo S, Huang J, Wu J. Broad-complex Z3 contributes to the ecdysone-mediated transcriptional regulation of the vitellogenin gene in Bombus lantschouensis. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0207275. [PMID: 30440013 PMCID: PMC6237364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
During reproduction, vitellogenin (Vg), as an egg yolk precursor, is critical in sexually mature females of oviparous species including some insects. The transcription of Vg is usually mediated by hormones such as juvenile hormone (JH), ecdysteroids and some neuropeptides. In this study, the structure of the Vg gene from the bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis, (BlVg) was determined by sequencing and assembly. BlVg was found to be expressed at higher levels in reproductive queens than in virgins by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that BlVg was expressed at the highest levels in the fat bodies of both virgin and reproductive queens. Prediction of the BlVg promoter revealed the presence of ecdysteroid-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) containing one Broad-Complex zinc-finger isoform 3 (BR-C Z3), and one ecdysone-induced protein 74A (E74A). In addition, luciferase reporter expression, driven by the 5' -regulatory region of the BlVg gene, from -1517 bp to +895 bp downstream of the start codon, was induced by treatment with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E). Moreover, the luciferase activity of the BlVg promoter was elevated by only BlBrC-Z3 when Sf9 cells were cotransfected with four BlBrC isoforms respectively. BlVg promoter-mediated luciferase activation was significantly reduced when the putative BrC-Z3 CRE in the promoter was mutated. In summary, this report describes the first study of vitellogenin gene regulation at the transcriptional level in bumblebees and demonstrates that the ecdysone-induced transcription of the BlVg gene is mediated by the binding of BlBrC-Z3 to the BrC-Z3 CRE in the BlVg promoter in bumblebees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congai Zhen
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Huipeng Yang
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Shudong Luo
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Jiaxing Huang
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
- * E-mail: (JW); (JH)
| | - Jie Wu
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
- * E-mail: (JW); (JH)
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28
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Gao J, Guo H, Sun Y, Ge F. Differential accumulation of leucine and methionine in red and green pea aphids leads to different fecundity in response to nitrogen fertilization. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2018; 74:1779-1789. [PMID: 29384253 DOI: 10.1002/ps.4875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/23/2018] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nitrogen fertilization affects plants directly and herbivorous insects indirectly. Although insect species and even genotypes are known to differ in their responses to nitrogen fertilization, the physiological and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study assessed the fecundity and related regulatory signaling pathways in the green and red morphs of pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) feeding on Medicago truncatula with and without nitrogen fertilization. RESULTS Nitrogen fertilization significantly increased foliar amino acid concentrations and consequently increased the concentrations of several individual essential amino acids in body tissue of the green morph. The increased concentration of Leu, Ile, Met and Val was consistent with enhanced biosynthesis of these amino acids in the endosymbiont Buchnera. Under nitrogen fertilization, Leu and Met accumulated in the green morph enhanced the target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway, which consequently increased fecundity by promoting vitellogenin synthesis. In the red morph, however, nitrogen fertilization did not change the concentration of essential amino acids, TOR signaling or fecundity. CONCLUSION Specific amino acids accumulation and the nutrient transduction pathway in pea aphids are responsible for genotype-specific fecundity in response to nitrogen fertilization, which could be used as potential target for pest control. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huijuan Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yucheng Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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29
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Juvenile hormone-regulated alternative splicing of the taiman gene primes the ecdysteroid response in adult mosquitoes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E7738-E7747. [PMID: 30061397 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1808146115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Juvenile hormone (JH) regulates many aspects of insect development and reproduction. In some processes, JH plays a critical role in defining the action of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). In Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, JH prepares newly emerged female adults to become competent to synthesize vitellogenin in response to 20E after blood ingestion. The molecular basis of this competence is still not well understood. Here, we report that JH regulates pre-mRNA splicing of the taiman gene, which encodes a key transcriptional regulator required for both JH- and 20E-controlled gene expression. JH stimulated the production of the Taiman isoforms A/B, while reducing the levels of the isoforms C/D, in the fat body after adult eclosion. The appearance of the A/B isoforms in maturing mosquitoes was accompanied by acquisition of the competence to respond to 20E. Depletion of the A/B isoforms, by inhibiting the alternative splicing or by isoform-specific RNA interference, considerably diminished the 20E-induced gene expression after a blood meal and substantially impaired oocyte development. In accordance with this observation, further studies indicated that in the presence of 20E, the Taiman A/B isoforms showed much stronger interactions with the 20E receptor complex than the Taiman C/D isoforms. In contrast, all four isoforms displayed similar capabilities of forming active JH receptor complexes with the methoprene-tolerant protein (Met). This study suggested that JH confers the competence to newly emerged female mosquitoes by regulating mRNA splicing to generate the Taiman isoforms that are essential for the vitellogenic 20E response.
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30
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Osei-Amo S, Hussein M, Asad S, Hugo L, Asgari S. Wolbachia-induced transcription factor GATA4 suppresses ovary-specific genes blastoderm-specific protein 25D and imaginal disc growth factor. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2018; 27:295-304. [PMID: 29336504 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia infects a wide array of insect hosts and has been implicated in a range of biological modifications as a consequence of its infection. Previously, it was shown that the transcription factor GATA4 was significantly induced in Wolbachia wMelPop-CLA strain infected Aedes aegypti whole mosquitoes and cells. Here, we provide evidence that this induction also occurs in mosquito ovaries where the ovary-specific genes blastoderm-specific protein 25D (Bsg25D) and imaginal disc growth factor (Disc) are suppressed by Wolbachia. We further demonstrate that transcriptional depletion of GATA4 results in upregulation of both genes and conversely its overexpression leads to downregulation of the genes, suggesting that Wolbachia-induced GATA4 plays a suppressive regulatory role with regards to Bsg25D and Disc expression in mosquito ovaries. When the Disc gene was silenced in mosquitoes, we did not observe any difference in the number of mature ovarian follicles developed between treatment groups. However, we did find a significant delay in the hatching of eggs that had been laid by Disc knockdown mosquitoes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Osei-Amo
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - M Hussein
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - S Asad
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - L Hugo
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - S Asgari
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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31
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Sun ZX, Kang K, Cai YJ, Zhang JQ, Zhai YF, Zeng RS, Zhang WQ. Transcriptional regulation of the vitellogenin gene through a fecundity-related single nucleotide polymorphism within a GATA-1 binding motif in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2018; 27:365-372. [PMID: 29484744 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Identifying the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) with functions in insect fecundity promises to provide novel insight into genetic mechanisms of adaptation and to aid in effective control of insect populations. We previously identified several SNPs within the vitellogenin (Vg) promoter region between a high-fecundity population (HFP) and a low-fecundity population (LFP) of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Here, we found that an A-to-T (HFP allele to LFP allele) transversion at nucleotide -953 upstream of Vg in a Nilaparvata lugens GATA-1 (NlGATA-1) binding motif is associated with the level of Vg transcription. We also characterized NlGATA-1, containing a double CX2 CX17 CX2 C zinc finger, which has been implicated in the activation of Vg gene expression. Knockdown of the NlGATA-1 gene results in a reduced basal level of expression of the Vg gene and fewer offspring of N. lugens in vivo, whereas overexpression of NlGATA-1 in cells increased Vg promoter activity. Moreover, upon cotransfection with NlGATA-1 expression vector, the luciferase activities of Vg reporter vectors with the A allele were significantly higher than those with the T allele. These findings support a mechanism in which a SNP within the promoter of Vg is associated with the level of Vg transcription by altering the binding activity of NlGATA-1 and subsequently affecting fecundity in N. lugens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z-X Sun
- College of Crop Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - K Kang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Y-J Cai
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - J-Q Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Y-F Zhai
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - R-S Zeng
- College of Crop Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - W-Q Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
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32
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Tissue-specific transcriptome profiling of Drosophila reveals roles for GATA transcription factors in longevity by dietary restriction. NPJ Aging Mech Dis 2018; 4:5. [PMID: 29675265 PMCID: PMC5904217 DOI: 10.1038/s41514-018-0024-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Dietary restriction (DR) extends animal lifespan, but imposes fitness costs. This phenomenon depends on dietary essential amino acids (EAAs) and TOR signalling, which exert systemic effects. However, the roles of specific tissues and cell-autonomous transcriptional regulators in diverse aspects of the DR phenotype are unknown. Manipulating relevant transcription factors (TFs) specifically in lifespan-limiting tissues may separate the lifespan benefits of DR from the early-life fitness costs. Here, we systematically analyse transcription across organs of Drosophila subjected to DR or low TOR and predict regulatory TFs. We predict and validate roles for the evolutionarily conserved GATA family of TFs, and identify conservation of this signal in mice. Importantly, restricting knockdown of the GATA TF srp to specific fly tissues recapitulated the benefits but not the costs of DR. Together, our data indicate that the GATA TFs mediate effects of dietary amino acids on lifespan, and that by manipulating them in specific tissues it is possible to reap the fitness benefits of EAAs, decoupled from a cost to longevity. Ageing human populations present a huge societal challenge, providing motivation to find ways to improve health in old age. Dietary restriction (DR), is one way to improve late-life health of animals from worms to mammals, and perhaps humans. This effect was first oberved over 80 years ago, but the underlying mechanism has proven elusive. In this study, gene expression was profiled in diverse tissues of flies subjected to DR, and from these results a role for proteins called GATA transcription factors was predicted. Reducing expression of GATA transcription factors altered the effect of diet on lifespan, and targeting this knockdown to specific tissues reduced side-effects commonly associated with longevity. Therefore this study predicts that targeting GATA transcription factors in specific tissues may promote the benefits, but not costs, of DR.
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33
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Roy S, Saha TT, Zou Z, Raikhel AS. Regulatory Pathways Controlling Female Insect Reproduction. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2018; 63:489-511. [PMID: 29058980 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 284] [Impact Index Per Article: 47.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The synthesis of vitellogenin and its uptake by maturing oocytes during egg maturation are essential for successful female reproduction. These events are regulated by the juvenile hormones and ecdysteroids and by the nutritional signaling pathway regulated by neuropeptides. Juvenile hormones act as gonadotropins, regulating vitellogenesis in most insects, but ecdysteroids control this process in Diptera and some Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. The complex crosstalk between the juvenile hormones, ecdysteroids, and nutritional signaling pathways differs distinctly depending on the reproductive strategies adopted by various insects. Molecular studies within the past decade have revealed much about the relationships among, and the role of, these pathways with respect to regulation of insect reproduction. Here, we review the role of juvenile hormones, ecdysteroids, and nutritional signaling, along with that of microRNAs, in regulating female insect reproduction at the molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sourav Roy
- Department of Entomology, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, and Center for Disease Vector Research, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA; , ,
| | - Tusar T Saha
- Department of Entomology, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, and Center for Disease Vector Research, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA; , ,
| | - Zhen Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
| | - Alexander S Raikhel
- Department of Entomology, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, and Center for Disease Vector Research, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA; , ,
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34
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Abstract
Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes transmit the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the majority of fatal malaria cases worldwide. The hematophagous lifestyle defines mosquito reproductive biology and is exploited by P. falciparum for its own sexual reproduction and transmission. The two main phases of the mosquito reproductive cycle, previtellogenic (PV) and postblood meal (PBM), shape its capacity to transmit malaria. Transition between these phases is tightly coordinated to ensure homeostasis between mosquito tissues and successful reproduction. One layer of control is provided by microRNAs (miRNAs), well-known regulators of blood meal digestion and egg development in Aedes mosquitoes. Here, we report a global overview of tissue-specific miRNAs (miRNA) expression during the PV and PBM phases and identify miRNAs regulated during PV to PBM transition. The observed coordinated changes in the expression levels of a set of miRNAs in the energy-storing tissues suggest a role in the regulation of blood meal-induced metabolic changes.
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35
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Piper MDW, Partridge L. Drosophila as a model for ageing. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2017; 1864:2707-2717. [PMID: 28964875 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2017.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster has been a key model in developing our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of ageing. Of particular note is its role in establishing the evolutionary conservation of reduced insulin and IGF-1-like signaling in promoting healthy ageing. Capitalizing on its many advantages for experimentation, more recent work has revealed how precise nutritional and genetic interventions can improve fly lifespan without obvious detrimental side effects. We give a brief summary of these recent findings as well as examples of how they may modify ageing via actions in the gut and muscle. These discoveries highlight how expanding our understanding of metabolic and signaling interconnections will provide even greater insight into how these benefits may be harnessed for anti-ageing interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew D W Piper
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Linda Partridge
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Köln 50931, Germany; Institute of Healthy Ageing, Department GEE, UCL, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
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36
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Kapheim KM. Nutritional, endocrine, and social influences on reproductive physiology at the origins of social behavior. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2017; 22:62-70. [PMID: 28805640 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the evolutionary origins of social behavior in insects requires understanding the physiological basis for reproductive plasticity. Solitary bees and wasps or those living in small, flexible societies will be key to understanding how conserved pathways have evolved to give rise to reproductive castes. Nutrient-sensing and endocrine pathways are decoupled from reproduction in some life stages of social insects. Heterochrony, particularly as it is related to diapause physiology, may be an important mechanism by which this decoupling occurs. Additional research is needed to understand how these pathways became sensitive to cues from the social environment. Future research targeting species with a diversity of social behaviors and diapause strategies will be key to understanding the physiological basis of social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen M Kapheim
- Utah State University, Department of Biology, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
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37
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Spanier KI, Jansen M, Decaestecker E, Hulselmans G, Becker D, Colbourne JK, Orsini L, De Meester L, Aerts S. Conserved Transcription Factors Steer Growth-Related Genomic Programs in Daphnia. Genome Biol Evol 2017; 9:1821-1842. [PMID: 28854641 PMCID: PMC5569996 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecological genomics aims to understand the functional association between environmental gradients and the genes underlying adaptive traits. Many genes that are identified by genome-wide screening in ecologically relevant species lack functional annotations. Although gene functions can be inferred from sequence homology, such approaches have limited power. Here, we introduce ecological regulatory genomics by presenting an ontology-free gene prioritization method. Specifically, our method combines transcriptome profiling with high-throughput cis-regulatory sequence analysis in the water fleas Daphnia pulex and Daphnia magna. It screens coexpressed genes for overrepresented DNA motifs that serve as transcription factor binding sites, thereby providing insight into conserved transcription factors and gene regulatory networks shaping the expression profile. We first validated our method, called Daphnia-cisTarget, on a D. pulex heat shock data set, which revealed a network driven by the heat shock factor. Next, we performed RNA-Seq in D. magna exposed to the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Daphnia-cisTarget identified coregulated gene networks that associate with the moulting cycle and potentially regulate life history changes in growth rate and age at maturity. These networks are predicted to be regulated by evolutionary conserved transcription factors such as the homologues of Drosophila Shavenbaby and Grainyhead, nuclear receptors, and a GATA family member. In conclusion, our approach allows prioritising candidate genes in Daphnia without bias towards prior knowledge about functional gene annotation and represents an important step towards exploring the molecular mechanisms of ecological responses in organisms with poorly annotated genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katina I. Spanier
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Human Genetics, Laboratory of Computational Biology, KU Leuven, Belgium
- VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mieke Jansen
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ellen Decaestecker
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Aquatic Biology, Science and Technology, KU Leuven Campus Kulak, Kortrjik, Belgium
| | - Gert Hulselmans
- Department of Human Genetics, Laboratory of Computational Biology, KU Leuven, Belgium
- VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dörthe Becker
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, United Kingdom
| | - John K. Colbourne
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Luisa Orsini
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Luc De Meester
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Stein Aerts
- Department of Human Genetics, Laboratory of Computational Biology, KU Leuven, Belgium
- VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, KU Leuven, Belgium
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38
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Patel B, Banerjee R, Basu M, Lenka S, Samanta M, Das S. Molecular cloning of IgZ heavy chain isotype in Catla catla and comparative expression profile of IgZ and IgM following pathogenic infection. Microbiol Immunol 2017; 60:561-7. [PMID: 27301776 DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Revised: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Immunoglobulins serve as a crucial arm of the adaptive immune system against detrimental pathogenic threats in teleosts. However, whether the novel Ig isotype IgZ is present in the Indian major carp, Catla catla, has not yet been elucidated. The present study reports the presence of IgZ ortholog in C. catla (CcIgZ) and further demonstrates its comparative tissue specific expression with IgM (CcIgM) in response to bacterial and parasitic stimulation. The putative 139 amino acid sequence of IgZ heavy chain cDNA of C. catla showed homology with IgZ constant domains of other teleosts. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted IgZ transcript sequence clustered with previously identified IgZ heavy chain sequences of Cyprinidae family members. The inductive expression profiles of IgZ and IgM genes were evaluated in immunologically relevant tissues at 24, 48 and 72 hr post infection with Aeromonas hydrophila, Streptococcus uberis and Argulus sp. Both CcIgZ and CcIgM were expressed most strongly in the kidneys of healthy fish. Basal expression of CcIgM transcript was higher than that of CcIgZ in all the examined tissues. Stimulation with bacteria triggered significant increase of IgZ in the intestine (P < 0.001) and spleen (P < 0.01), whereas IgM was relatively up-regulated in blood (P < 0.001) after stimulation with each of the three pathogens assessed. The study is the first to report identification of IgZ in C. catla. Further, it provides insights into the differential expression profiles of IgZ and IgM isotypes against various pathogenic infection in C. catla, which may facilitate better prophylaxis again such infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhakti Patel
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Ecology, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769 008
| | - Rajanya Banerjee
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Ecology, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769 008
| | - Madhubanti Basu
- Fish Health Management Division, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar 751002, Odisha, India
| | - Saswati Lenka
- Fish Health Management Division, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar 751002, Odisha, India
| | - Mrinal Samanta
- Fish Health Management Division, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar 751002, Odisha, India
| | - Surajit Das
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Ecology, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769 008
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39
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Zhuo JC, Xue J, Lu JB, Huang HJ, Xu HJ, Zhang CX. Effect of RNAi-mediated knockdown of NlTOR gene on fertility of male Nilaparvata lugens. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 98:149-159. [PMID: 28069465 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2016] [Revised: 01/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The target gene of rapamycin (TOR) is conserved from invertebrates to vertebrates, and plays critical roles in cell growth, nutrient sensing, lifespan and reproduction. In this paper, we employed RNA interference (RNAi) to study the function of TOR in male brown planthoppers (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens. Here we discovered that no offspring was produced when wildtype females BPH mated with NlTOR RNAi males. To understand the influence of NlTOR on male BPH infertility, we dissected the reproductive system of a NlTOR RNAi male, and found that the testes were normal and the seminal vesicles were full of sperm, while the accessory gland was poorly developed after knocking down NlTOR expression. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy data showed defective structure of epithelial cells of the accessory gland, and the deferent duct was collapsed. Also, behavioral data revealed that wildtype virgin females refused to mate with NlTOR RNAi males, and the acoustic signals of dsNlTOR males differed from controls. Our results indicate that NlTOR plays an essential role in the development of the male BPH reproductive system and regulates mating behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji-Chong Zhuo
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jian Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jia-Bao Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Hai-Jian Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Hai-Jun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
| | - Chuan-Xi Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
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Hormone and receptor interplay in the regulation of mosquito lipid metabolism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E2709-E2718. [PMID: 28292900 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1619326114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mosquitoes transmit devastating human diseases because they need vertebrate blood for egg development. Metabolism in female mosquitoes is tightly coupled with blood meal-mediated reproduction, which requires an extremely high level of energy consumption. Functional analysis has shown that major genes encoding for enzymes involved in lipid metabolism (LM) in the mosquito fat bodies are down-regulated at the end of the juvenile hormone (JH)-controlled posteclosion (PE) phase but exhibit significant elevation in their transcript levels during the post-blood meal phase (PBM), which is regulated mainly by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Reductions in the transcript levels of genes encoding triacylglycerol (TAG) catabolism and β-oxidation enzymes were observed to correlate with a dramatic accumulation of lipids in the PE phase; in contrast, these transcripts were elevated significantly and lipid stores were diminished during the PBM phase. The RNAi depletion of Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and ecdysone receptor (EcR), receptors for JH and 20E, respectively, reversed the LM gene expression and the levels of lipid stores and metabolites, demonstrating the critical roles of these hormones in LM regulation. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4) RNAi-silenced mosquitoes exhibited down-regulation of the gene transcripts encoding TAG catabolism and β-oxidation enzymes and an inability to use lipids effectively, as manifested by TAG accumulation. The luciferase reporter assay showed direct regulation of LM-related genes by HNF4. Moreover, HNF4 gene expression was down-regulated by Met and activated by EcR and Target of rapamycin, providing a link between nutritional and hormonal regulation of LM in female mosquitoes.
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Qiu J, He Y, Zhang J, Kang K, Li T, Zhang W. Discovery and functional identification of fecundity-related genes in the brown planthopper by large-scale RNA interference. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2016; 25:724-733. [PMID: 27472833 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Recently, transcriptome and proteome data have increasingly been used to identify potential novel genes related to insect phenotypes. However, there are few studies reporting the large-scale functional identification of such genes in insects. To identify novel genes related to fecundity in the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, 115 genes were selected from the transcriptomic and proteomic data previously obtained from high- and low-fecundity populations in our laboratory. The results of RNA interference (RNAi) feeding experiments showed that 91.21% of the genes were involved in the regulation of vitellogenin (Vg) expression and may influence BPH fecundity. After RNAi injection experiments, 12 annotated genes were confirmed as fecundity-related genes and three novel genes were identified in the BPH. Finally, C-terminal binding protein (CtBP) was shown to play an important role in BPH fecundity. Knockdown of CtBP not only led to lower survival, underdeveloped ovaries and fewer eggs laid but also resulted in a reduction in Vg protein expression. The novel gene resources gained from this study will be useful for constructing a Vg regulation network and may provide potential target genes for RNAi-based pest control.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Qiu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Y He
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - J Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - K Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - T Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - W Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Gujar H, Palli SR. Juvenile hormone regulation of female reproduction in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius. Sci Rep 2016; 6:35546. [PMID: 27762340 PMCID: PMC5071884 DOI: 10.1038/srep35546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Accepted: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
To begin studies on reproduction in common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, we identified three genes coding for vitellogenin (Vg, a protein required for the reproductive success of insects) and studied their hormonal regulation. RNA interference studied showed that expression of Vg3 gene in the adult females is a prerequisite for successful completion of embryogenesis in the eggs laid by them. Juvenile hormone (JH) receptor, Methoprene-tolerant (Met), steroid receptor coactivator (SRC) and GATAa but not ecdysone receptor (EcR) or its partner, ultraspiracle (USP) are required for expression of Vg genes. Feeding and mating working through Vg, Met, SRC, EcR, and GATAa regulate oocyte development. Knockdown of the expression of Met, SRC, EcR, USP, BR-C (Broad-Complex), TOR (target of rapamycin), and GATAa in female adults resulted in a reduction in the number eggs laid by them. Interestingly, Kruppel homolog 1 (Kr-h1) knockdown in the adult females did not reduce their fecundity but affected the development of embryos in the eggs laid by females injected with Kr-h1 double-stranded RNA. These data suggest that JH functioning through Met and SRC regulate both vitellogenesis and oogenesis in C. lectularius. However, JH does not work through Kr-h1 but may work through transcription factors not yet identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant Gujar
- Department of Entomology University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0091, USA
| | - Subba Reddy Palli
- Department of Entomology University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0091, USA
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Lu K, Chen X, Liu WT, Zhang XY, Chen MX, Zhou Q. Nutritional Signaling Regulates Vitellogenin Synthesis and Egg Development through Juvenile Hormone in Nilaparvata lugens (Stål). Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17:269. [PMID: 26927076 PMCID: PMC4813133 DOI: 10.3390/ijms17030269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Revised: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Insect female reproduction which comprises the synthesis of vitellogenein (Vg) in the fat body and its incorporation into developing oocytes, needs a large amount of energy and food resources. Our previous studies found that juvenile hormone (JH) regulates vitellogenesis in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. Here, we report on the role of JH in nutrient-regulated Vg synthesis and egg development. We first cloned the genes coding for juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase (JHAMT) which is involved in JH biosynthesis and methoprene-tolerant (Met) for JH action. Amino acids (AAs) induced the expression of jmtN, while showing no effects on the expression of met using an artificial diet culture system. Reduction in JH biosynthesis or its action by RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of jmtN or met led to a severe inhibition of AAs-induced Vg synthesis and oocyte maturation, together with lower fecundity. Furthermore, exogenous application of JH III partially restored Vg expression levels in jmtN RNAi females. However, JH III application did not rescue Vg synthesis in these met RNAi insects. Our results show that AAs induce Vg synthesis in the fat body and egg development in concert with JH biosynthesis in Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), rather than through JH action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Lu
- College of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
| | - Xia Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Wen-Ting Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Xin-Yu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
| | - Ming-Xiao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
| | - Qiang Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
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Fu X, Li T, Chen J, Dong Y, Qiu J, Kang K, Zhang W. Functional screen for microRNAs of Nilaparvata lugens reveals that targeting of glutamine synthase by miR-4868b regulates fecundity. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2015; 83:22-9. [PMID: 26546713 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2015] [Revised: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Insect fecundity is regulated by the interaction of genotypes and the environment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) also act in insect development and reproduction by regulating genes involved in these physiological processes. Although hundreds of insect miRNAs have been identified, the biological roles of most remain poorly understood. Here, we used a multi-algorithm approach for miRNA target prediction in 3'UTRs of fecundity-related genes in the brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens and identified 38 putative miRNAs targeting 9 fecundity-related genes. High-ranked miRNAs were selected for target validation. Using a dual luciferase reporter assay in S2 cells, we experimentally verified N. lugens glutamine synthetase (NlGS) as an authentic target of microRNA-4868b (miR-4868b). In the females, NlGS protein expression was down-regulated after injection of a miR-4868b mimic but up-regulated after injection of a miR-4868b inhibitor. In addition, overexpression of miR-4868b reduced fecundity, and disrupted ovary development and Vg expression in N. lugens. These findings showed that miR-4868b is involved in regulating N. lugens fecundity by targeting NlGS. Moreover, this study may lead to better understanding of the fecundity of this important agricultural insect pest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xian Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Tengchao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Jie Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Yi Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Jieqi Qiu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Kui Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Wenqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
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Smykal V, Raikhel AS. Nutritional Control of Insect Reproduction. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2015; 11:31-38. [PMID: 26644995 PMCID: PMC4669899 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2015.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The amino acid-Target of Rapamycin (AA/TOR) and insulin pathways play a pivotal role in reproduction of female insects, serving as regulatory checkpoints that guarantee the sufficiency of nutrients for developing eggs. Being evolutionary older, the AA/TOR pathway functions as an initial nutritional sensor that not only activates nutritional responses in a tissue-specific manner, but is also involved in the control of insect insulin-like peptides (ILPs) secretion. Insulin and AA/TOR pathways also assert their nutritionally linked influence on reproductive events by contributing to the control of biosynthesis and secretion of juvenile hormone and ecdysone. This review covers the present status of our understanding of the contributions of AA/TOR and insulin pathways in insect reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexander S. Raikhel
- Corresponding author. Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Tel.: 951 827 2129
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TORC1 Regulates Developmental Responses to Nitrogen Stress via Regulation of the GATA Transcription Factor Gaf1. mBio 2015; 6:e00959. [PMID: 26152587 PMCID: PMC4488950 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00959-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The TOR (target of rapamycin [sirolimus]) is a universally conserved kinase that couples nutrient availability to cell growth. TOR complex 1 (TORC1) in Schizosaccharomyces pombe positively regulates growth in response to nitrogen availability while suppressing cellular responses to nitrogen stress. Here we report the identification of the GATA transcription factor Gaf1 as a positive regulator of the nitrogen stress-induced gene isp7+, via three canonical GATA motifs. We show that under nitrogen-rich conditions, TORC1 positively regulates the phosphorylation and cytoplasmic retention of Gaf1 via the PP2A-like phosphatase Ppe1. Under nitrogen stress conditions when TORC1 is inactivated, Gaf1 becomes dephosphorylated and enters the nucleus. Gaf1 was recently shown to negatively regulate the transcription induction of ste11+, a major regulator of sexual development. Our findings support a model of a two-faceted role of Gaf1 during nitrogen stress. Gaf1 positively regulates genes that are induced early in the response to nitrogen stress, while inhibiting later responses, such as sexual development. Taking these results together, we identify Gaf1 as a novel target for TORC1 signaling and a step-like mechanism to modulate the nitrogen stress response. TOR complex 1 (TORC1) is an evolutionary conserved protein complex that positively regulates growth and proliferation, while inhibiting starvation responses. In fission yeast, the activity of TORC1 is downregulated in response to nitrogen starvation, and cells reprogram their transcriptional profile and prepare for sexual development. We identify Gaf1, a GATA-like transcription factor that regulates transcription and sexual development in response to starvation, as a downstream target for TORC1 signaling. Under nitrogen-rich conditions, TORC1 positively regulates the phosphorylation and cytoplasmic retention of Gaf1 via the PP2A-like phosphatase Ppe1. Under nitrogen stress conditions when TORC1 is inactivated, Gaf1 becomes dephosphorylated and enters the nucleus. Budding yeast TORC1 regulates GATA transcription factors via the phosphatase Sit4, a structural homologue of Ppe1. Thus, the TORC1-GATA transcription module appears to be conserved in evolution and may also be found in higher eukaryotes.
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Weng SC, Shiao SH. Frizzled 2 is a key component in the regulation of TOR signaling-mediated egg production in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2015; 61:17-24. [PMID: 25890109 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2015.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2014] [Revised: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/31/2015] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The Wnt signaling pathway was first discovered as a key event in embryonic development and cell polarity in Drosophila. Recently, several reports have shown that Wnt stimulates translation and cell growth by activating the mTOR pathway in mammals. Previous studies have demonstrated that the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathway plays an important role in mosquito vitellogenesis. However, the interactions between these two pathways are poorly understood in the mosquito. In this study, we hypothesized that factors from the TOR and Wnt signaling pathways interacted synergistically in mosquito vitellogenesis. Our results showed that silencing Aedes aegypti Frizzled 2 (AaFz2), a transmembrane receptor of the Wnt signaling pathway, decreased the fecundity of mosquitoes. We showed that AaFz2 was highly expressed at the transcriptional and translational levels in the female mosquito 6 h after a blood meal, indicating amino acid-stimulated expression of AaFz2. Notably, the phosphorylation of S6K, a downstream target of the TOR pathway, and the expression of vitellogenin were inhibited in the absence of AaFz2. A direct link was found in this study between Wnt and TOR signaling in the regulation of mosquito reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shih-Che Weng
- Department of Parasitology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shin-Hong Shiao
- Department of Parasitology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Price DP, Schilkey FD, Ulanov A, Hansen IA. Small mosquitoes, large implications: crowding and starvation affects gene expression and nutrient accumulation in Aedes aegypti. Parasit Vectors 2015; 8:252. [PMID: 25924822 PMCID: PMC4415286 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-0863-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2014] [Accepted: 04/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Environmental factors such as temperature, nutrient availability, and larval density determine the outcome of postembryonic development in mosquitoes. Suboptimal temperatures, crowding, and starvation during the larval phase reduce adult mosquito size, nutrient stores and affect vectorial capacity. Methods In this study we compared adult female Aedes aegypti, Rockefeller strain, raised under standard laboratory conditions (Large) with those raised under crowded and nutritionally deprived conditions (Small). To compare the gene expression and nutritional state of the major energy storage and metabolic organ, the fat body, we performed transcriptomics using Illumina based RNA-seq and metabolomics using GC/MS on females before and 24 hours following blood feeding. Results Analysis of fat body gene expression between the experimental groups revealed a large number of significantly differentially expressed genes. Transcripts related to immunity, reproduction, autophagy, several metabolic pathways; including amino acid degradation and metabolism; and membrane transport were differentially expressed. Metabolite profiling identified 60 metabolites within the fat body to be significantly affected between small and large mosquitoes, with the majority of detected free amino acids at a higher level in small mosquitoes compared to large. Conclusions Gene expression and metabolites in the adult fat body reflect the individual post-embryonic developmental history of a mosquito larva. These changes affect nutritional storage and utilization, immunity, and reproduction. Therefore, it is apparent that changes in larval environment due to weather conditions, nutrition availability, vector control efforts, and other factors can affect adult vectorial capacity in the field. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0863-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- David P Price
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA. .,Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA.
| | | | - Alexander Ulanov
- Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA.
| | - Immo A Hansen
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA. .,Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA.
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Eichner C, Dalvin S, Skern-Mauritzen R, Malde K, Kongshaug H, Nilsen F. Characterization of a novel RXR receptor in the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis, Copepoda) regulating growth and female reproduction. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:81. [PMID: 25765704 PMCID: PMC4333900 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1277-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2014] [Accepted: 01/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nuclear receptors have crucial roles in all metazoan animals as regulators of gene transcription. A wide range of studies have elucidated molecular and biological significance of nuclear receptors but there are still a large number of animals where the knowledge is very limited. In the present study we have identified an RXR type of nuclear receptor in the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) (i.e. LsRXR). RXR is one of the two partners of the Ecdysteroid receptor in arthropods, the receptor for the main molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (E20) with a wide array of effects in arthropods. RESULTS Five different LsRXR transcripts were identified by RACE showing large differences in domain structure. The largest isoforms contained complete DNA binding domain (DBD) and ligand binding domain (LBD), whereas some variants had incomplete or no DBD. LsRXR is transcribed in several tissues in the salmon louse including ovary, subcuticular tissue, intestine and glands. By using Q-PCR it is evident that the LsRXR mRNA levels vary throughout the L. salmonis life cycle. We also show that the truncated LsRXR transcript comprise about 50% in all examined samples. We used RNAi to knock-down the transcription in adult reproducing female lice. This resulted in close to zero viable offspring. We also assessed the LsRXR RNAi effects using a L. salmonis microarray and saw significant effects on transcription in the female lice. Transcription of the major yolk proteins was strongly reduced by knock-down of LsRXR. Genes involved in lipid metabolism and transport were also down regulated. Furthermore, different types of growth processes were up regulated and many cuticle proteins were present in this group. CONCLUSIONS The present study demonstrates the significance of LsRXR in adult female L. salmonis and discusses the functional aspects in relation to other arthropods. LsRXR has a unique structure that should be elucidated in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiane Eichner
- Department of Biology, Sea Lice Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Sussie Dalvin
- Department of Biology, Sea Lice Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. .,Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway.
| | | | - Ketil Malde
- Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Heidi Kongshaug
- Department of Biology, Sea Lice Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Frank Nilsen
- Department of Biology, Sea Lice Research Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
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Hussain M, Asgari S. MicroRNAs as mediators of insect host-pathogen interactions and immunity. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2014; 70:151-158. [PMID: 25152509 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2014] [Revised: 08/13/2014] [Accepted: 08/14/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Insects are the most successful group of animals on earth, owing this partly to their very effective immune responses to microbial invasion. These responses mainly include cellular and humoral responses as well as RNA interference (RNAi). Small non-coding RNAs (snRNAs) produced through RNAi are important molecules in the regulation of gene expression in almost all living organisms; contributing to important processes such as development, differentiation, immunity as well as host-microorganism interactions. The main snRNAs produced by the RNAi response include short interfering RNAs, microRNAs and piwi-interacting RNAs. In addition to the host snRNAs, some microorganisms encode snRNAs that affect the dynamics of host-pathogen interactions. In this review, we will discuss the latest developments in regards to the role of microRNA in insect host-pathogen interactions and provide some insights into this rapidly developing area of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mazhar Hussain
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Sassan Asgari
- Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
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