Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Corvallis, Oregon.
Department of Biochemistry, Mississippi State University, Mississippi.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2020 May;104(1):e21660. doi: 10.1002/arch.21660. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
Drosophila suzukii differs from other members of the genus Drosophila in its host preference and oviposition behavior. The flies are attracted to ripening fruits, and females have a serrated ovipositor enabling eggs to be laid inside the fruit. In addition to its huge economic impact, its unique chemoecological, morphological, and physiological characteristics have garnered considerable research interests. In this study, we analyzed D. suzukii antennal transcriptomes to identify sex-biased genes by comparison of differential gene expressions between male antennae (MA) and female antennae (FA). Among 13,583 total genes of the fly genome, 11,787 genes were expressed in either MA or FA. There are only 132 genes (9 in MA, 7 in FA, and 116 in both, FPKM >1) were expressed in antennae exclusively, and 2,570 genes (9 in MA, 0 in FA, and 2,561 in both) were enriched in antennae containing 185 and 113 sex-biased genes in MA and FA, respectively. Interestingly, many immune-related genes were highly expressed in MA, whereas several chemosensory genes were at high rank in FA. We identified 27 sex-biased chemosensory genes including odorant and gustatory receptors, odorant-binding proteins, chemosensory proteins, ionotropic receptors, and cytochrome P450s, and validated the gene expressions using quantitative real-time PCR. The highly expressed sex-biased genes in antennae are likely involved in the fly specific mating, host-finding behaviors, or sex-specific functions. The molecular results demonstrated here will facilitate to find the unique chemoreception of D. suzukii, as well as on the development of new management strategies for this pest.
水果实蝇不同于果蝇属的其他成员，其具有特殊的寄主偏好和产卵行为。该蝇类被成熟果实吸引，且雌蝇具有锯齿状的产卵器，可将卵产在果实内部。除了造成巨大的经济影响外，其独特的化学生态学、形态学和生理学特性引起了相当多的研究兴趣。在这项研究中，我们通过比较雌雄触角（MA 和 FA）之间的差异基因表达，分析了 D. suzukii 触角转录组，以鉴定性别偏向基因。在果蝇基因组的 13583 个总基因中，有 11787 个基因在 MA 或 FA 中表达。只有 132 个基因（9 个在 MA 中，7 个在 FA 中，116 个在两者中，FPKM>1）仅在触角中表达，2570 个基因（9 个在 MA 中，0 个在 FA 中，2561 个在两者中）在触角中富集，其中 185 个和 113 个性别偏向基因分别在 MA 和 FA 中富集。有趣的是，许多与免疫相关的基因在 MA 中高度表达，而一些化学感觉基因在 FA 中排名较高。我们鉴定了 27 个性别偏向的化学感觉基因，包括气味和味觉受体、气味结合蛋白、化学感觉蛋白、离子型受体和细胞色素 P450s，并使用定量实时 PCR 验证了基因表达。触角中高表达的性别偏向基因可能参与了蝇类特有的交配、寻找寄主行为或性别特异性功能。这里的分子结果将有助于发现 D. suzukii 独特的化学感受，并为这种害虫的新管理策略的发展提供依据。
