Zhuo Ji-Chong, Xue Jian, Lu Jia-Bao, Huang Hai-Jian, Xu Hai-Jun, Zhang Chuan-Xi
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
J Insect Physiol. 2017 Apr;98:149-159. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.01.002. Epub 2017 Jan 7.
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.
雷帕霉素靶蛋白（TOR）从无脊椎动物到脊椎动物都保守存在，并在细胞生长、营养感知、寿命和繁殖中发挥关键作用。在本文中，我们利用RNA干扰（RNAi）技术研究了TOR在雄性褐飞虱（Nilaparvata lugens）中的功能。在此我们发现，野生型雌性褐飞虱与NlTOR RNA干扰雄性褐飞虱交配时不会产生后代。为了解NlTOR对雄性褐飞虱不育的影响，我们解剖了一只NlTOR RNA干扰雄性褐飞虱的生殖系统，发现睾丸正常且精囊充满精子，而在敲低NlTOR表达后，附腺发育不良。此外，透射电子显微镜数据显示附腺上皮细胞结构有缺陷，输精管塌陷。行为学数据还表明，野生型未交配雌性拒绝与NlTOR RNA干扰雄性交配，且dsNlTOR雄性的声学信号与对照不同。我们的结果表明，NlTOR在雄性褐飞虱生殖系统发育中起重要作用并调节交配行为。
