Lu Jin-Ming, Shang Feng, Ding Bi-Yue, Wang Lin, Li Qing-Chun, Wang Jin-Jun, Dou Wei
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Insect Sci. 2024 Dec;31(6):1684-1696. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.13337. Epub 2024 Feb 9.
The tanning hormone, Bursicon, is a neuropeptide secreted by the insect nervous system that functions as a heterodimer composed of Burs-α and Burs-β subunits. It plays a critical role in the processes of cuticle tanning and wing expansion in insects. In this study, we successfully identified the AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β genes in Aphis citricidus. The open reading frames of AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β were 480 and 417 bp in length, respectively. Both AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β exhibited 11 conserved cysteine residues. AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β were expressed during all developmental stages of A. citricidus and showed high expression levels in the winged aphids. To investigate the potential role of AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β in wing development, we employed RNA interference (RNAi) techniques. With the efficient silencing of AcBurs-α (44.90%) and AcBurs-β (52.31%), malformed wings were induced in aphids. The proportions of malformed wings were 22.50%, 25.84%, and 38.34% in dsAcBurs-α-, dsAcBur-β-, and dsAcBurs-α + dsAcBur-β-treated groups, respectively. Moreover, feeding protein kinase A inhibitors (H-89) also increased the proportion of malformed wings to 30.00%. Feeding both double-stranded RNA and inhibitors (H-89) significantly downregulated the wing development-related genes nubbin, vestigial, notch and spalt major. Silence of vestigial through RNAi also led to malformed wings. Meanwhile, the exogenous application of 3 hormones that influence wing development did not affect the expression level of AcBursicon genes. These findings indicate that AcBursicon genes plays a crucial role in wing development in A. citricidus; therefore, it represents a potential molecular target for the control of this pest through RNAi-based approaches.
鞣化激素bursicon是一种由昆虫神经系统分泌的神经肽，它作为一种异源二聚体发挥作用，由Burs-α和Burs-β亚基组成。它在昆虫表皮鞣化和翅膀伸展过程中起着关键作用。在本研究中，我们成功地在柑橘蚜虫中鉴定出AcBurs-α和AcBurs-β基因。AcBurs-α和AcBurs-β的开放阅读框长度分别为480和417bp。AcBurs-α和AcBurs-β均有11个保守的半胱氨酸残基。AcBurs-α和AcBurs-β在柑橘蚜虫的所有发育阶段均有表达，且在有翅蚜虫中表达水平较高。为了研究AcBurs-α和AcBurs-β在翅膀发育中的潜在作用，我们采用了RNA干扰（RNAi）技术。随着AcBurs-α（44.90%）和AcBurs-β（52.31%）的有效沉默，蚜虫出现了畸形翅膀。在dsAcBurs-α、dsAcBur-β和dsAcBurs-α + dsAcBur-β处理组中，畸形翅膀的比例分别为22.50%、25.84%和38.34%。此外，饲喂蛋白激酶A抑制剂（H-89）也使畸形翅膀的比例增加到30.00%。同时饲喂双链RNA和抑制剂（H-89）显著下调了与翅膀发育相关的基因nubbin、vestigial、notch和spalt major的表达。通过RNAi沉默vestigial也导致了畸形翅膀。同时，外源施加3种影响翅膀发育的激素并未影响AcBursicon基因的表达水平。这些发现表明，AcBursicon基因在柑橘蚜虫的翅膀发育中起着关键作用；因此，它代表了一种通过基于RNAi的方法控制这种害虫的潜在分子靶点。
