College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China.
National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, Ganzhou 341000, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Jul 31;20(15):3734. doi: 10.3390/ijms20153734.
Chitin synthase is a critical enzyme that catalyzes -acetylglucosamine to form chitin, which plays an important role in the growth and development of insects. In this study, we identified a chitin synthase gene () with a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 3180 bp from the genome database of , encoding a protein of 1059 amino acid residues with the appropriate signature motifs (EDR and QRRRW). Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis suggested that () was expressed throughout all developmental stages and all tissues. had the highest expression level in the integument and fifth-instar nymph stage. Furthermore, the effects of diflubenzuron (DFB) on mortality and expression level were investigated using fifth-instar nymph through leaf dip bioassay, and the results revealed that the nymph exposed to DFB had the highest mortality compared with control group (Triton-100). Silencing of by RNA interference resulted in malformed phenotypes and increased mortality with decreased molting rate. In addition, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) also revealed corresponding ultrastructural defects. Our results suggest that might play an important role in the development of and can be used as a potential target for psyllid control.
几丁质合酶是一种关键酶，它催化乙酰葡萄糖胺形成几丁质，在昆虫的生长和发育中起着重要作用。在本研究中，我们从基因组数据库中鉴定出一种几丁质合酶基因（），其完整的开放阅读框（ORF）为 3180bp，编码一个由 1059 个氨基酸残基组成的蛋白质，具有合适的特征基序（EDR 和 QRRRW）。反转录定量 PCR（RT-qPCR）分析表明，（）在所有发育阶段和所有组织中均有表达。在表皮和五龄若虫期，（）的表达水平最高。此外，通过叶浸生物测定法研究了灭幼脲（DFB）对五龄若虫（）死亡率和表达水平的影响，结果表明，与对照组（Triton-100）相比，暴露于 DFB 的若虫死亡率最高。通过 RNA 干扰沉默（）导致畸形表型和死亡率增加，蜕皮率降低。此外，透射电子显微镜（TEM）和荧光原位杂交（FISH）也显示出相应的超微结构缺陷。我们的结果表明，（）可能在（）的发育中起重要作用，并可作为粉虱防治的潜在靶标。
