Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.
J Insect Physiol. 2022 May-Jun;139:104398. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2022.104398. Epub 2022 May 7.
Bursicon is a heterodimeric neuropeptide composed of Burs-α and Burs-β subunits that plays an important role in cuticle tanning and wing expansion in insects. In this study, full-length cDNAs of Burs-α (LdBurs-α) and Burs-β (LdBurs-β) genes were identified in gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and cloned. The 480 bp and 420 bp open reading frames (ORFs) encode 159 and 129 amino acid polypeptides, respectively. LdBurs-α and LdBurs-β have 11 conserved cysteine residues, and LdBurs-α and LdBurs-β genes were expressed during all developmental stages according to quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), with highest expression in the egg stage. High expression levels were also detected in the haemolymph, cuticle and head. To explore the physiological functions of LdBurs-α and LdBurs-β, the genes were knocked down in larvae and pupae using RNA interference (RNAi), and expression levels of LdBurs-α and LdBurs-β were decreased by 42.26-80.09%. Wing defects were observed in L. dispar pupae following Ldbursion silencing, with a phenotypic percentage ranging from 10.17% to 15.00%. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Ldbursicon prevented the expansion of male and female L. dispar adult wings, with malformation rates ranging from 6.38% and 30.00% to 57.69% and 69.23%, but no cuticle tanning defects were observed in pupae or adults. The results indicate that bursicon plays a key role in wing expansion in L. dispar adults, making it a potentially novel molecular target for insecticide-based control of this pest species.
保幼激素是一种由 Burs-α 和 Burs-β 亚基组成的二聚体神经肽，在昆虫的表皮鞣制和翅膀扩张中发挥重要作用。本研究在舞毒蛾（Lymantria dispar）中鉴定并克隆了全长 Burs-α（LdBurs-α）和 Burs-β（LdBurs-β）基因的 cDNA。480bp 和 420bp 的开放阅读框（ORF）分别编码 159 和 129 个氨基酸多肽。LdBurs-α 和 LdBurs-β 具有 11 个保守的半胱氨酸残基，根据定量逆转录 PCR（qRT-PCR），LdBurs-α 和 LdBurs-β 基因在所有发育阶段均有表达，在卵期表达量最高。在血液、表皮和头部也检测到高表达水平。为了研究 LdBurs-α 和 LdBurs-β 的生理功能，使用 RNA 干扰（RNAi）在幼虫和蛹中敲低这些基因，LdBurs-α 和 LdBurs-β 的表达水平降低了 42.26-80.09%。Ldbursion 沉默后，舞毒蛾蛹出现翅膀缺陷，表型百分比为 10.17%-15.00%。Ldbursicon 的 RNAi 介导的敲低阻止了雄性和雌性舞毒蛾成虫翅膀的扩张，畸形率范围为 6.38%-30.00%至 57.69%-69.23%，但在蛹或成虫中未观察到表皮鞣制缺陷。结果表明，保幼激素在舞毒蛾成虫翅膀扩张中起关键作用，使其成为基于杀虫剂控制该害虫的潜在新分子靶标。
