Department of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
Department of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2021 Jan;128:103515. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103515. Epub 2020 Dec 30.
The diverse colors and patterns found in Lepidoptera are important for success of these species. Similar to the wings of adult butterflies, lepidopteran larvae exhibit diverse color variations to adapt to their habitats. Compared with butterfly wings, however, less attention has been paid to larval body colorations and patterns. In the present study, we focus on the yellow-y gene, which participates in the melanin synthesis pathway. We conducted CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis of yellow-y in the tobacco cutworm Spodoptera litura. We analyzed the role of S. litura yellow-y in pigmentation by morphological observation and discovered that yellow-y is necessary for normal black pigmentation in S. litura. We also showed species- and tissue-specific requirements of yellow-y in pigmentation in comparison with those of Bombyx mori yellow-y mutants. Furthermore, we found that almost none of the yellow-y mutant embryos hatched unaided. We provide evidence that S. litura yellow-y has a novel important function in egg hatching, in addition to pigmentation. The present study will enable a greater understanding of the functions and diversification of the yellow-y gene in insects.
鳞翅目昆虫的多样颜色和图案对于这些物种的成功至关重要。与成年蝴蝶的翅膀相似，鳞翅目幼虫表现出多样的颜色变化以适应其栖息地。然而，与蝴蝶翅膀相比，幼虫身体的颜色和图案受到的关注较少。在本研究中，我们专注于黄色-y 基因，该基因参与黑色素合成途径。我们通过 CRISPR/Cas9 介导的靶向诱变技术在烟草夜蛾 Spodoptera litura 中对黄色-y 进行了基因敲除。我们通过形态观察分析了 S. litura yellow-y 在色素沉着中的作用，发现 yellow-y 对于 S. litura 正常的黑色色素沉着是必需的。我们还比较了与家蚕 yellow-y 突变体的色素沉着相比，S. litura yellow-y 在色素沉着中具有种属和组织特异性的要求。此外，我们发现几乎没有黄色-y 突变体的胚胎能够自行孵化。我们提供的证据表明，S. litura yellow-y 除了在色素沉着中具有重要作用外，在卵孵化中也具有新的重要功能。本研究将有助于更好地理解黄色-y 基因在昆虫中的功能和多样化。
