Dong Wei, Dobler Ralph, Dowling Damian K, Moussian Bernard
Institute of Applied Biology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China.
Applied Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
PeerJ. 2019 Oct 4;7:e7802. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7802. eCollection 2019.
An important role of the insect cuticle is to prevent wetting (i.e., permeation of water) and also to prevent penetration of potentially harmful substances. This barrier function mainly depends on the hydrophobic cuticle surface composed of lipids including cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). We investigated to what extent the cuticle inward barrier function depends on the genotype, comprising mitochondrial and nuclear genes in the fruit fly and investigated the contribution of interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear genotypes (mito-nuclear interactions) on this function. In addition, we assessed the effects of nutrition and sex on the cuticle barrier function. Based on a dye penetration assay, we find that cuticle barrier function varies across three fly lines that were captured from geographically separated regions in three continents. Testing different combinations of mito-nuclear genotypes, we show that the inward barrier efficiency is modulated by the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes independently. We also find an interaction between diet and sex. Our findings provide new insights into the regulation of cuticle inward barrier function in nature.
昆虫角质层的一个重要作用是防止湿润（即水的渗透），同时防止潜在有害物质的侵入。这种屏障功能主要取决于由包括表皮碳氢化合物（CHCs）在内的脂质组成的疏水角质层表面。我们研究了角质层向内屏障功能在多大程度上取决于基因型，包括果蝇中的线粒体和核基因，并研究了线粒体和核基因型之间的相互作用（线粒体 - 核相互作用）对该功能的贡献。此外，我们评估了营养和性别对角质层屏障功能的影响。基于染料渗透试验，我们发现角质层屏障功能在从三大洲地理上分离的地区捕获的三个果蝇品系中有所不同。测试线粒体 - 核基因型的不同组合，我们表明向内屏障效率由核基因组和线粒体基因组独立调节。我们还发现饮食和性别之间存在相互作用。我们的研究结果为自然界中角质层向内屏障功能的调节提供了新的见解。
