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Banerjee TD, Zhang L, Monteiro A. Mapping Gene Expression in Whole Larval Brains of Bicyclus anynana Butterflies. Methods Protoc 2025; 8:31. [PMID: 40126249 PMCID: PMC11932290 DOI: 10.3390/mps8020031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2025] [Revised: 03/09/2025] [Accepted: 03/11/2025] [Indexed: 03/25/2025] Open
Abstract
Butterfly larvae display intricate cognitive capacities and behaviors, but relatively little is known about how those behaviors alter their brains at the molecular level. Here, we optimized a hybridization chain reaction 3.0 (HCR v3.0) protocol to visualize the expression of multiple RNA molecules in fixed larval brains of the African butterfly Bicyclus anynana. We optimized the polyacrylamide gel mounting, fixation, and sample permeabilization steps, and mapped the expression domains of ten genes in whole larval brain tissue at single-cell resolution. The genes included optomotor blind (omb), yellow-like, zinc finger protein SNAI2-like (SNAI2), weary (wry), extradenticle (exd), Synapsin, Distal-less (Dll), bric-à-brac 1 (bab1), dachshund (dac), and acetyl coenzyme A acetyltransferase B (AcatB). This method can be used alongside single-cell sequencing to visualize the spatial location of brain cells that change in gene expression or splicing patterns in response to specific behaviors or cognitive experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Antónia Monteiro
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore;
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Dong Y, Xu X, Qian L, Kou Z, Andongma AA, Zhou L, Huang Y, Wang Y. Genome-wide identification of yellow gene family in Hermetia illucens and functional analysis of yellow-y by CRISPR/Cas9. INSECT SCIENCE 2025; 32:115-126. [PMID: 38685755 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13371] [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: 04/22/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The yellow gene family plays a crucial role in insect pigmentation. It has potential for use as a visible marker gene in genetic manipulation and transgenic engineering in several model and non-model insects. Sadly, yellow genes have rarely been identified in Stratiomyidae species and the functions of yellow genes are relatively unknown. In the present study, we first manually annotated and curated 10 yellow genes in the black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens (Stratiomyidae). Then, the conserved amino acids in the major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) domain, structural architecture and phylogenetic relationship of yellow genes in BSF were analyzed. We found that the BSF yellow-y, yellow-c and yellow-f genes are expressed at all developmental stages, especially in the prepupal stage. Using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system, we successfully disrupted yellow-y, yellow-c and yellow-f in the BSF. Consequently, the mutation of yellow-y clearly resulted in a pale-yellow body color in prepupae, pupae and adults, instead of the typical black body color of the wild type. However, the mutation of yellow-c or yellow-f genes did not result in any change in color of the insects, when compared with the wild type. Our study indicates that the BSF yellow-y gene plays a role in body pigmentation, providing an optimal marker gene for the genetic manipulation of BSF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongcheng Dong
- Key Laboratory of Biology and Sustainable Management of Plant Diseases and Pests of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Xiaomiao Xu
- Key Laboratory of Biology and Sustainable Management of Plant Diseases and Pests of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Lansa Qian
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, CAS, Shanghai, China
| | - Zongqing Kou
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, CAS, Shanghai, China
| | - Awawing A Andongma
- Insect and Parasite Ecology Group, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Lijun Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Biology and Sustainable Management of Plant Diseases and Pests of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Yongping Huang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yaohui Wang
- Key Laboratory of Biology and Sustainable Management of Plant Diseases and Pests of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
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Matsuoka Y, Nakamura T, Watanabe T, Barnett AA, Tomonari S, Ylla G, Whittle CA, Noji S, Mito T, Extavour CG. Establishment of CRISPR/Cas9-based knock-in in a hemimetabolous insect: targeted gene tagging in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Development 2025; 152:dev199746. [PMID: 39514640 PMCID: PMC11829760 DOI: 10.1242/dev.199746] [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: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 11/16/2024]
Abstract
Studies of traditional model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have contributed immensely to our understanding of the genetic basis of developmental processes. However, the generalizability of these findings cannot be confirmed without functional genetic analyses in additional organisms. Direct genome editing using targeted nucleases has the potential to transform hitherto poorly understood organisms into viable laboratory organisms for functional genetic study. To this end, we present a method to induce targeted genome knockout and knock-in of desired sequences in an insect that serves as an informative contrast to Drosophila, the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. The efficiency of germline transmission of induced mutations is comparable with that reported for other well-studied laboratory organisms, and knock-ins targeting introns yield viable, fertile animals in which knock-in events are directly detectable by visualization of a fluorescent marker in the expression pattern of the targeted gene. Combined with the recently assembled and annotated genome of this cricket, this knock-in/knockout method increases the viability of G. bimaculatus as a tractable system for functional genetics in a basally branching insect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuji Matsuoka
- Department of Life Systems, Institute of Technology and Science, the University of Tokushima Graduate School, 201 Minami-Jyosanjima-cho, Tokushima City 770-8506, Japan
| | - Taro Nakamura
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Takahito Watanabe
- Department of Life Systems, Institute of Technology and Science, the University of Tokushima Graduate School, 201 Minami-Jyosanjima-cho, Tokushima City 770-8506, Japan
- Bio-Innovation Research Center, Tokushima University, 2272-2 Ishii, Ishii-cho, Myozai-gun, Tokushima 779-3233, Japan
| | - Austen A. Barnett
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Sayuri Tomonari
- Department of Life Systems, Institute of Technology and Science, the University of Tokushima Graduate School, 201 Minami-Jyosanjima-cho, Tokushima City 770-8506, Japan
| | - Guillem Ylla
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow 30-387, Poland
| | - Carrie A. Whittle
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Sumihare Noji
- Tokushima University, 2-14 Shinkura-cho, Tokushima City 770-8501, Japan
| | - Taro Mito
- Department of Life Systems, Institute of Technology and Science, the University of Tokushima Graduate School, 201 Minami-Jyosanjima-cho, Tokushima City 770-8506, Japan
| | - Cassandra G. Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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4
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Riyahi S, Liebermann-Lilie ND, Jacobs A, Korsten P, Mayer U, Schmoll T. Transcriptomic changes in the posterior pallium of male zebra finches associated with social niche conformance. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:694. [PMID: 39009985 PMCID: PMC11251365 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10573-y] [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: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals plastically adjust their physiological and behavioural phenotypes to conform to their social environment-social niche conformance. The degree of sexual competition is a critical part of the social environment to which animals adjust their phenotypes, but the underlying genetic mechanisms are poorly understood. We conducted a study to investigate how differences in sperm competition risk affect the gene expression profiles of the testes and two brain areas (posterior pallium and optic tectum) in breeding male zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis). In this pre-registered study, we investigated a large sample of 59 individual transcriptomes. We compared two experimental groups: males held in single breeding pairs (low sexual competition) versus those held in two pairs (elevated sexual competition) per breeding cage. Using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), we observed significant effects of the social treatment in all three tissues. However, only the treatment effects found in the pallium were confirmed by an additional randomisation test for statistical robustness. Likewise, the differential gene expression analysis revealed treatment effects only in the posterior pallium (ten genes) and optic tectum (six genes). No treatment effects were found in the testis at the single gene level. Thus, our experiments do not provide strong evidence for transcriptomic adjustment specific to manipulated sperm competition risk. However, we did observe transcriptomic adjustments to the manipulated social environment in the posterior pallium. These effects were polygenic rather than based on few individual genes with strong effects. Our findings are discussed in relation to an accompanying paper using the same animals, which reports behavioural results consistent with the results presented here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sepand Riyahi
- Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany.
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, Vienna, 1030, Austria.
| | - Navina D Liebermann-Lilie
- Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany
| | - Arne Jacobs
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Peter Korsten
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany
- Department of Life Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Uwe Mayer
- Center for Mind/Brain Science, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, Rovereto, TN, 38068, Italy.
| | - Tim Schmoll
- Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany.
- Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), University of Münster and Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
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5
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Brien MN, Orteu A, Yen EC, Galarza JA, Kirvesoja J, Pakkanen H, Wakamatsu K, Jiggins CD, Mappes J. Colour polymorphism associated with a gene duplication in male wood tiger moths. eLife 2023; 12:e80116. [PMID: 37902626 PMCID: PMC10635649 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Colour is often used as an aposematic warning signal, with predator learning expected to lead to a single colour pattern within a population. However, there are many puzzling cases where aposematic signals are also polymorphic. The wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, displays bright hindwing colours associated with unpalatability, and males have discrete colour morphs which vary in frequency between localities. In Finland, both white and yellow morphs can be found, and these colour morphs also differ in behavioural and life-history traits. Here, we show that male colour is linked to an extra copy of a yellow family gene that is only present in the white morphs. This white-specific duplication, which we name valkea, is highly upregulated during wing development. CRISPR targeting valkea resulted in editing of both valkea and its paralog, yellow-e, and led to the production of yellow wings. We also characterise the pigments responsible for yellow, white, and black colouration, showing that yellow is partly produced by pheomelanins, while black is dopamine-derived eumelanin. Our results add to a growing number of studies on the genetic architecture of complex and seemingly paradoxical polymorphisms, and the role of gene duplications and structural variation in adaptive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie N Brien
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Anna Orteu
- Department of Zoology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Eugenie C Yen
- Department of Zoology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Juan A Galarza
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of OuluOuluFinland
| | - Jimi Kirvesoja
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of JyväskyläJyväskyläFinland
| | - Hannu Pakkanen
- Department of Chemistry, University of JyväskyläJyväskyläFinland
| | | | - Chris D Jiggins
- Department of Zoology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of JyväskyläJyväskyläFinland
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6
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Rossi G. Butterflies feeling ‘the butterflies’. J Exp Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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