Department of Agriculture and Biotechnology, State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Department of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2021 Sep;108(1):e21833. doi: 10.1002/arch.21833. Epub 2021 Jul 19.
The homeobox family is a large and diverse superclass of genes, many of which act as transcription factors that play important roles in tissue differentiation and embryogenesis in animals. The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is the most destructive pest of rice in Asia, and high fecundity contributes significantly to its ecological success in natural and agricultural habits. Here, we identified 94 homeobox genes in BPH, which could be divided into 75 gene families and 9 classes. This number is comparable to the number of homeobox genes found in the honeybee Apis mellifera, but is slightly less than in Drosophila or the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. A spatio-temporal analysis indicated that most BPH homeobox genes were expressed in a development and tissue-specific manner, of which 21 genes were highly expressed in ovaries. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated functional assay showed that 22 homeobox genes were important for nymph development and the nymph to adult transition, whereas 67 genes were dispensable during this process. Fecundity assay showed that knockdown of 13 ovary-biased genes (zfh1, schlank, abd-A, Lim3_2, Lmxb, Prop, ap_1, Not, lab, Hmx, vis, Pknox, and C15) led to the reproductive defect. This is the first comprehensive investigation into homeobox genes in a hemipteran insect and thus helps us to understand the functional significance of homeobox genes in insect reproduction.
同源异型框家族是一个庞大而多样的基因超家族，其中许多作为转录因子，在动物的组织分化和胚胎发生中发挥重要作用。褐飞虱（Nilaparvata lugens）是亚洲水稻最具破坏性的害虫，高繁殖力对其在自然和农业环境中的生态成功有重要贡献。在这里，我们在褐飞虱中鉴定了 94 个同源异型框基因，它们可以分为 75 个基因家族和 9 个类。这个数字与蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）中的同源异型框基因数量相当，但略低于果蝇或红粉甲虫（Tribolium castaneum）。时空分析表明，大多数褐飞虱同源异型框基因以发育和组织特异性的方式表达，其中 21 个基因在卵巢中高度表达。RNA 干扰（RNAi）介导的功能分析表明，22 个同源异型框基因对若虫发育和若虫到成虫的过渡很重要，而在这个过程中有 67 个基因是可有可无的。生育力测定表明，敲低 13 个卵巢偏向基因（zfh1、schlank、abd-A、Lim3_2、Lmxb、Prop、ap_1、Not、lab、Hmx、vis、Pknox 和 C15）导致生殖缺陷。这是首次对半翅目昆虫同源异型框基因进行全面调查，因此有助于我们了解同源异型框基因在昆虫生殖中的功能意义。
