Transcriptome Analysis of Female Pheromone Gland: Esters Biosynthesis and Requirement for Mating Success.

Female moths use sex pheromones to attract males, and corresponding regulatory mechanism underlying sex pheromone biosynthesis is species-dependent. However, the detailed mechanism involved in sex pheromone biosynthesis in has not yet been fully addressed. In the present study, transcriptome sequencing of pheromone glands screened a serials of candidate genes involved in sex pheromone biosynthesis. Our analysis showed that sex pheromone release in females arrives its peak at the 2 scotophase, consistent with its mating behavior. Pheromone biosynthesis-activating neuropeptide (PBAN) was confirmed to regulate sex pheromone biosynthesis, and Ca is the secondary messenger of PBAN signaling in . The functional analysis of candidate genes demonstrated that the decreased mRNA levels or activities of calcineurin (CaN) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) led to significant decrease in sex pheromone production and female capability to attract males, as demonstrated by RNAi-mediated knockdown and pharmacological inhibitor assay. Most importantly, the activities of CaN and ACC depend on the activation of PBAN/PBANR/Ca. Furthermore, fatty-acyl reductase 14 was involved in PBAN-mediated sex pheromone biosynthesis. Altogether, our results demonstrated that PBAN regulates sex pheromone biosynthesis through PBANR/Ca/CaN/ACC pathway to promote sex pheromone biosynthesis in and provided a reference for non-model organism to study neuropeptide signal transduction.