Sun Lili, Zhang Zhongjie, Zhang Ru, Yu Ye, Yang Fangying, Tan Anjiang
College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Physiol. 2020 May 20;11:424. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00424. eCollection 2020.
Insect ion transport peptides (ITPs) are important regulators of many physiological processes and they exert their functions by interacting with their receptors (ITPRs). In the current study, we comprehensively investigated the physiological functions of ITPR in the lepidopteran model insect, the silkworm (), using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease (Cas9) genome editing technique. Mutations in silkworm ITPR () resulted in a prolongnation of the larval stage by 3.5-day as well as failure in wing expansion of moths. The mutation accelerated food transition throughout the digestive tract, which is 1.55-fold that of wild type (WT) insects. Excretion was 1.56-fold of WT insects during the larval stage, resulting in the loss of body water content. Loss of function induced significant upregulation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzyme activity and nitric oxide (NO) content, as well as downstream Ca/NO/cGMP signaling pathways. Key genes in insulin and ecdysone signaling pathways were also affected by disruption. Our data show that ITPR plays key roles in regulating insect water homeostasis and development.
昆虫运输肽（ITPs）是许多生理过程的重要调节因子，它们通过与受体（ITPRs）相互作用来发挥功能。在本研究中，我们利用成簇规律间隔短回文重复序列（CRISPR）/CRISPR相关蛋白9核酸酶（Cas9）基因组编辑技术，全面研究了ITPR在鳞翅目模式昆虫家蚕中的生理功能。家蚕ITPR（）的突变导致幼虫期延长3.5天，以及蛾类翅膀展开失败。突变加速了整个消化道的食物转换，是野生型（WT）昆虫的1.55倍。幼虫期的排泄量是WT昆虫的1.56倍，导致体内水分含量丧失。功能丧失导致一氧化氮合酶（NOS）酶活性和一氧化氮（NO）含量以及下游Ca/NO/cGMP信号通路显著上调。胰岛素和蜕皮激素信号通路中的关键基因也受到破坏的影响。我们的数据表明，ITPR在调节昆虫水分平衡和发育中起关键作用。
