Department of Plant Medicals, College of Life Sciences, Andong National University, Andong, 36720, Korea.
Department of Food Life Science, College of Life Sciences, Andong National University, Andong, 36720, Korea.
Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 5;13(1):5551. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32833-9.
The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, is an insect pest, and its aggregation pheromone (AP) plays a crucial role in the recruitment of both sexes. A novel pheromone biosynthesis-activating neuropeptide (PBAN)-like gene is encoded in F. occidentalis genome, but its physiological function has yet to be elucidated. This study hypothesized the physiological role played by PBAN in mediating AP production. AP has been known to be produced only by male adults in F. occidentalis. Surprisingly, our extraction of headspace volatiles contained two AP components in females as well as in males with similar composition. PBAN injection elevated the AP production whereas RNA interference (RNAi) of the gene expression suppressed the AP production in both sexes. A biosynthetic pathway to produce AP components were predicted and the enzymes catalyzing the main steps were confirmed in their expressions. Individual RNAi treatments of these genes significantly suppressed AP production. RNAi of PBAN gene downregulated the expressions of these biosynthesis-associated genes in both sexes. These results suggest that the novel neuropeptide acts as PBAN mediating AP production through stimulating its biosynthetic machinery in F. occidentalis.
西方花蓟马（Frankliniella occidentalis）是一种昆虫害虫，其聚集信息素（AP）在两性的招募中起着至关重要的作用。在 F. occidentalis 基因组中编码了一种新型的信息素生物合成激活神经肽（PBAN）样基因，但它的生理功能尚未阐明。本研究假设 PBAN 在介导 AP 产生中的生理作用。AP 已知仅由雄性成虫在 F. occidentalis 中产生。令人惊讶的是，我们对头腔挥发物的提取不仅在雄性成虫中，而且在雌性成虫中也包含了两种 AP 成分，其组成相似。PBAN 注射可提高 AP 的产生，而该基因表达的 RNA 干扰（RNAi）则抑制了两性的 AP 产生。预测了产生 AP 成分的生物合成途径，并证实了催化主要步骤的酶在其表达中的作用。这些基因的单个 RNAi 处理显著抑制了 AP 的产生。PBAN 基因的 RNAi 下调了两性中这些生物合成相关基因的表达。这些结果表明，新型神经肽作为 PBAN 通过刺激其生物合成机制在 F. occidentalis 中介导 AP 的产生。
