The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China.
School of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China.
Insect Mol Biol. 2024 Feb;33(1):55-68. doi: 10.1111/imb.12877. Epub 2023 Sep 26.
Desaturase enzymes play an essential role in the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). In this study, we identified seven "first desaturase" subfamily genes (Cfor-desatA1, Cfor-desatA2-a, Cfor-desatA2-b, Cfor-desatB-a, Cfor-desatB-b, Cfor-desatD and Cfor-desatE) from the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus. These desaturases were highly expressed in the cuticle and fat body of C. formosanus. Inhibition of either the Cfor-desatA2-a or Cfor-desatA2-b gene resulted in a significant decrease in the contents of fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2) in worker castes. Moreover, we observed that inhibition of most of desaturase genes identified in this study had a negative impact on the survival rate and desiccation tolerance of workers. Interestingly, when normal soldiers were reared together with dsCfor-desatA2-b-treated workers, they exhibited higher mortality, suggesting that desaturase had an impact on trophallaxis among C. formosanus castes. Our findings shed light on the novel roles of desaturase family genes in the eusocial termite C. formosanus.
去饱和酶在不饱和脂肪酸 (UFAs) 的生物合成中起着至关重要的作用。在这项研究中，我们从台湾乳白蚁 Coptotermes formosanus 中鉴定出了七个“第一去饱和酶”亚家族基因（Cfor-desatA1、Cfor-desatA2-a、Cfor-desatA2-b、Cfor-desatB-a、Cfor-desatB-b、Cfor-desatD 和 Cfor-desatE）。这些去饱和酶在台湾乳白蚁的表皮和脂肪体中高度表达。抑制 Cfor-desatA2-a 或 Cfor-desatA2-b 基因的表达会导致工蚁体内脂肪酸（C16:0、C18:0、C18:1 和 C18:2）含量显著降低。此外，我们观察到，本研究中鉴定的大多数去饱和酶基因的抑制对工蚁的存活率和耐旱性都有负面影响。有趣的是，当正常的兵蚁与用 dsCfor-desatA2-b 处理过的工蚁一起饲养时，它们的死亡率更高，这表明去饱和酶对台湾乳白蚁品级间的营养交流有影响。我们的研究结果揭示了去饱和酶家族基因在社会性白蚁台湾乳白蚁中的新作用。
