Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China.
Key Laboratory for Conservation and Use of Important Biological Resources of Anhui Province, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology and Mechanism of Major Diseases, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Aug 28;24(17):13330. doi: 10.3390/ijms241713330.
Various plant species contain terpene secondary metabolites, which disrupt insect growth and development by affecting the activity of juvenile hormone-degrading enzymes, and the juvenile hormone (JH) titers maintained in insects. Nerolidol, a natural sesquiterpenol belonging to the terpenoid group, exhibits structural similarities to insect JHs. However, the impact of nerolidol on insect growth and development, as well as its underlying molecular mechanism, remains unclear. Here, the effects of nerolidol on were investigated under treatment at various sub-lethal doses (4.0 mg/mL, 1.0 mg/mL, 0.25 mg/mL). We found that a higher dose (4.0 mg/mL) of nerolidol significantly impaired the normal growth, development, and population reproduction of , although a relatively lower dose (0.25 mg/mL) of nerolidol had no significant effect on this growth and development. Combined transcriptome sequencing and gene family analysis further revealed that four juvenile hormone esterase (JHE)-family genes that are involved in juvenile hormone degradation were significantly altered in larvae after nerolidol treatment (4.0 mg/mL). Interestingly, the juvenile hormone esterase-like (JHEL) gene , a critical element responsive to nerolidol stress, was closely linked with the significant augmentation of JHE activity and JH titer in ( = 0.94, < 0.01). Taken together, we speculate that nerolidol can function as an analog of JH by modulating the expression of the enzyme genes responsible for degrading JH, resulting in JH disorders and ultimately disrupting the development of insect larvae. This study ultimately provides a theoretical basis for the sustainable control of in the field whilst proposing a new perspective for the development of novel biological pesticides.
各种植物物种都含有萜烯次生代谢物，这些代谢物通过影响昆虫保幼激素降解酶的活性和昆虫体内保幼激素（JH）的含量，来破坏昆虫的生长和发育。橙花叔醇是萜烯类化合物中的一种天然倍半萜醇，其结构与昆虫 JH 相似。然而，橙花叔醇对昆虫生长发育的影响及其潜在的分子机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们在不同亚致死剂量（4.0mg/ml、1.0mg/ml、0.25mg/ml）下研究了橙花叔醇对斜纹夜蛾的影响。我们发现，较高剂量（4.0mg/ml）的橙花叔醇显著损害了斜纹夜蛾的正常生长、发育和种群繁殖，尽管较低剂量（0.25mg/ml）的橙花叔醇对这种生长和发育没有显著影响。结合转录组测序和基因家族分析，进一步揭示了橙花叔醇处理后，参与 JH 降解的四个幼虫保幼激素酯酶（JHE）家族基因在斜纹夜蛾幼虫中发生了显著改变（4.0mg/ml）。有趣的是，与橙花叔醇应激密切相关的幼虫保幼激素酯酶样（JHEL）基因 ，是一个关键的响应元件，与 JHE 活性和 JH 滴度的显著增加密切相关（ = 0.94， < 0.01）。综上所述，我们推测橙花叔醇可以通过调节负责降解 JH 的酶基因的表达，作为 JH 的类似物发挥作用，导致 JH 紊乱，最终破坏昆虫幼虫的发育。本研究为田间斜纹夜蛾的可持续控制提供了理论依据，并为新型生物农药的开发提供了新的视角。
