Mamtha R, Kiran Tannavi, Chandramohan Vivek, Gowrishankar B S, Manjulakumari D
Department of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Bangalore University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560056, India.
Department of Biotechnology, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru, Karnataka, 572103, India.
J Genet Eng Biotechnol. 2023 Feb 1;21(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s43141-023-00466-0.
Mating elicits significant changes in gene expression and leads to subsequent physiological and behavioural modifications in insects. The reproductive success of both sexes is contributed immensely by the male accessory gland (MAG) proteins that are transferred along with sperms to the female reproductive tract during mating where they facilitate several processes that modify the post-mating behaviour. The mating-responsive genes in the MAGs have been identified and reported in many insects but have not been well-characterized in the important agricultural pest Spodoptera litura. Here, we present RNA sequencing analysis to identify mating-responsive genes from the accessory glands of virgin males and males interrupted during mating.
Overall, 91,744 unigenes were generated after clustering the assembled transcript sequences of both samples, while the total number of transcripts annotated was 48,708 based on sequence homology against the non-redundant (NR) database. Comparative transcriptomics analysis revealed 16,969 genes that were differentially expressed between the two groups, including 9814 up-regulated and 7155 down-regulated genes. Among the top 80 genes that were selected for heat map analysis, several prominent genes including odorant binding protein, cytochrome P450, heat shock proteins, juvenile hormone binding protein, carboxypeptidases and serine protease were differentially expressed.
The identified genes are known or predicted to promote several processes that modify the female post-mating behaviour. Future studies with the individual MAG protein or in combination will be required to recognize the precise mechanisms by which these proteins alter female physiology and reproductive behaviour. Thus, our study provides essential data to address fundamental questions about reproduction within and among insects and also paves way for further exploration of the functions of these proteins in female insects.
交配会引发昆虫基因表达的显著变化，并导致随后的生理和行为改变。雄性附腺（MAG）蛋白对两性的繁殖成功有巨大贡献，在交配过程中，这些蛋白会与精子一起转移到雌性交配道，在那里它们促进了几个改变交配后行为的过程。许多昆虫中已鉴定并报道了MAG中的交配响应基因，但在重要农业害虫斜纹夜蛾中尚未得到充分表征。在此，我们进行RNA测序分析，以从未交配雄性和交配过程中被打断的雄性的附腺中鉴定交配响应基因。
总体而言，对两个样本的组装转录本序列进行聚类后，共生成了91,744个单基因，而根据与非冗余（NR）数据库的序列同源性，注释的转录本总数为48,708个。比较转录组学分析揭示了两组之间差异表达的16,969个基因，包括9814个上调基因和7155个下调基因。在选择用于热图分析的前80个基因中，几个突出的基因，包括气味结合蛋白、细胞色素P450、热休克蛋白、保幼激素结合蛋白、羧肽酶和丝氨酸蛋白酶，存在差异表达。
所鉴定的基因已知或预测会促进几个改变雌性交配后行为的过程。未来需要对单个MAG蛋白或其组合进行研究，以识别这些蛋白改变雌性生理和生殖行为的确切机制。因此，我们的研究提供了重要数据，以解决关于昆虫体内和昆虫之间繁殖的基本问题，也为进一步探索这些蛋白在雌性昆虫中的功能铺平了道路。
