Comparative expression profiles of carboxylesterase orthologous in two closely related tea geometrid species, Prout and Warren.

Insect carboxylesterases (CXEs) can be expressed in multiple tissues and play crucial roles in detoxifying xenobiotic insecticides and degrading olfactory cues. Therefore, they have been considered as an important target for development of eco-friendly insect pest management strategies. Despite extensive investigation in most insect species, limited information on CXEs in sibling moth species is currently available. The Prout and Warren are two closely related tea geometrid species, which share the same host of tea plant but differ in geographical distribution, sex pheromone composition, and symbiotic bacteria abundance, providing an excellent mode species for studies of functional diversity of orthologous CXEs. In this study, we focused on due to its previously reported non-chemosensory organs-biased expression. First, the orthologous gene was cloned and sequence characteristics analysis showed that they share a conserved motif and phylogenetic relationship. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was then used to compare the expression profiles between two spp. The results showed that was predominately expressed in larvae, whereas was abundant in at multiple developmental stages. Interestingly, both orthologous were highly expressed in larval midgut, but the expression level of in midgut was significantly higher than that of in midgut. In addition, the potential effect of symbiotic bacteria on the was examined. This study is the first to provide comparative expression profiles of orthologous genes in two sibling geometrid moth species and the results will help further elucidate CXEs functions and identify a potential target for tea geometrid pest control.