Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Biometrology and Inspection & Quarantine, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China.
Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Pest Manag Sci. 2021 Oct;77(10):4658-4668. doi: 10.1002/ps.6507. Epub 2021 Jun 22.
The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is a serious insect pest of rice. Autophagy and its related gene ATG3 play multiple roles in insects. However, information about the functions of ATG3 in BPH (NlATG3) is unavailable, and its potential as a target for pest control remains unclear.
RT-qPCR results showed a relatively low expression of NlATG3 in 1st-4th-instar nymphs, which increased through 9-day-old adults. The expression of NlATG3 increased continuously in 1-day-old through 5-day-old eggs, whereas it decreased thereafter. The mRNA level of NlATG3 was markedly higher in the ovary (1.16) and head (1.00) compared to the rest body parts of BPH adults. Injecting nymphs with dsNlATG3 at doses from 62.5 to 250 ng per insect had strong lethal effect upon them. For the 5th-instar nymphs, all individuals died within 5 days after receiving the dsNlATG3, and importantly, no individual successfully molted. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the new cuticle of nymphs injected with dsNlATG3 became loose and curved, which is clearly different from that of the control. Correspondingly, the obvious vesicles in epidermal cells disappeared after dsNlATG3-treatment. RNAi of NlATG3 significantly reduced the total number of eggs laid per female as well as the eggs' hatchability, especially in the dsNlATG3♀ × dsGFP♂ group, whose total number of eggs laid per female largely decreased by 80.4%, and whose eggs' hatchability was significantly reduced from 95.7% to zero, when compared with the control (dsGFP♀ × dsGFP♂).
NlATG3 is a promising target for developing RNAi-based insect management strategies. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
褐飞虱（BPH），褐飞虱，是水稻的严重害虫。自噬及其相关基因 ATG3 在昆虫中发挥多种作用。然而，关于 ATG3 在 BPH（NlATG3）中的功能的信息尚不可用，其作为害虫防治的目标尚不清楚。
RT-qPCR 结果显示，1-4 龄若虫中 NlATG3 的表达相对较低，通过 9 日龄成虫增加。1 天至 5 天龄的卵中 NlATG3 的 mRNA 水平持续增加，此后降低。NlATG3 的 mRNA 水平在卵巢（1.16）和头部（1.00）明显高于 BPH 成虫的其他身体部位。以 62.5 至 250ng/虫的剂量向若虫注射 dsNlATG3 对其具有很强的致死作用。对于 5 龄若虫，所有个体在接受 dsNlATG3 后 5 天内死亡，重要的是，没有个体成功蜕皮。透射电子显微镜显示，注射 dsNlATG3 的若虫的新表皮变得松散和弯曲，这与对照明显不同。相应地，dsNlATG3 处理后表皮细胞中的明显囊泡消失。NlATG3 的 RNAi 显著降低了每只雌虫产卵总数和卵的孵化率，尤其是在 dsNlATG3♀×dsGFP♂组中，每只雌虫产卵总数大大减少了 80.4%，卵的孵化率从 95.7%显著降低至零，与对照（dsGFP♀×dsGFP♂）相比。
NlATG3 是开发基于 RNAi 的昆虫管理策略的有前途的靶标。 © 2021 化学工业协会。
