Oppert Brenda, Perkin Lindsey, Martynov Alexander G, Elpidina Elena N
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
J Insect Physiol. 2018 Apr;106(Pt 2):114-124. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.03.010. Epub 2017 Mar 28.
The gut is one of the primary interfaces between an insect and its environment. Understanding gene expression profiles in the insect gut can provide insight into interactions with the environment as well as identify potential control methods for pests. We compared the expression profiles of transcripts from the gut of larval stages of two coleopteran insects, Tenebrio molitor and Tribolium castaneum. These tenebrionids have different life cycles, varying in the duration and number of larval instars. T. castaneum has a sequenced genome and has been a model for coleopterans, and we recently obtained a draft genome for T. molitor. We assembled gut transcriptome reads from each insect to their respective genomes and filtered mapped reads to RPKM>1, yielding 11,521 and 17,871 genes in the T. castaneum and T. molitor datasets, respectively. There were identical GO terms in each dataset, and enrichment analyses also identified shared GO terms. From these datasets, we compiled an ortholog list of 6907 genes; 45% of the total assembled reads from T. castaneum were found in the top 25 orthologs, but only 27% of assembled reads were found in the top 25 T. molitor orthologs. There were 2281 genes unique to T. castaneum, and 2088 predicted genes unique to T. molitor, although improvements to the T. molitor genome will likely reduce these numbers as more orthologs are identified. We highlight a few unique genes in T. castaneum or T. molitor that may relate to distinct biological functions. A large number of putative genes expressed in the larval gut with uncharacterized functions (36 and 68% from T. castaneum and T. molitor, respectively) support the need for further research. These data are the first step in building a comprehensive understanding of the physiology of the gut in tenebrionid insects, illustrating commonalities and differences that may be related to speciation and environmental adaptation.
肠道是昆虫与其环境之间的主要界面之一。了解昆虫肠道中的基因表达谱可以深入了解其与环境的相互作用，并确定害虫的潜在控制方法。我们比较了两种鞘翅目昆虫黄粉虫和赤拟谷盗幼虫阶段肠道中转录本的表达谱。这些拟步甲科昆虫具有不同的生命周期，幼虫龄期的持续时间和数量各不相同。赤拟谷盗有一个已测序的基因组，一直是鞘翅目昆虫的模型，我们最近获得了黄粉虫的基因组草图。我们将每种昆虫肠道转录组读数与其各自的基因组进行比对，并将比对读数过滤为RPKM>1，在赤拟谷盗和黄粉虫数据集中分别产生了11521个和17871个基因。每个数据集中都有相同的基因本体论（GO）术语，富集分析也确定了共享的GO术语。从这些数据集中，我们编制了一份包含6907个基因的直系同源基因列表；赤拟谷盗组装读数总数的45%出现在前25个直系同源基因中，但黄粉虫组装读数中只有27%出现在前25个直系同源基因中。赤拟谷盗有2281个独特基因，黄粉虫有2088个预测独特基因，不过随着更多直系同源基因的确定，黄粉虫基因组的改进可能会减少这些数量。我们重点介绍了一些可能与不同生物学功能相关的黄粉虫或赤拟谷盗中的独特基因。大量在幼虫肠道中表达但功能未明确的推定基因（分别来自赤拟谷盗和黄粉虫的36%和68%）表明有必要进行进一步研究。这些数据是全面了解拟步甲科昆虫肠道生理学的第一步，阐明了可能与物种形成和环境适应相关的共性和差异。
