Key Laboratory of Surveillance and Management of Invasive Alien Species in Guizhou Education Department, College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang, China.
Pest Manag Sci. 2024 Sep;80(9):4543-4552. doi: 10.1002/ps.8158. Epub 2024 May 13.
MicroRNA (miRNA) pathway genes have been widely reported to participate in several physiological events in insect lifecycles. The cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne is an economically important storage pest worldwide. However, the functions of miRNA pathway genes in L. serricorne remain to be clarified. Herein, we investigated the function of molting and reproduction of the miRNA pathway in L. serricorne.
LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsLoquacious and LsExportin-5 were universally expressed in adults, whereas LsPasha and LsDrosha were mainly expressed in the pupae. The genes presented different patterns in various tissues. Silencing of LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsDrosha and LsExportin-5 resulted in a high proportion of wing deformities and molting defects. Silencing of LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsPasha and LsLoquacious affected the development of the ovary and the maturation of oocytes, resulting in a significant decrease in fecundity. Further investigation revealed that the decreases in LsDicer-1 and LsArgonaute-1 expression destroyed follicular epithelia and delayed vitellogenesis and oocyte development. In addition, the expression levels of several miRNAs (let-7, let-7-5p, miR-8-3p, miR-8-5p, miR-9c-5p, miR-71, miR-252-5p, miR-277-3p, miR-263b and Novel-miR-50) were decreased significantly after knockdown of these miRNA pathway core genes, indicating that they played important roles in regulating miRNA-mediated gene expression.
The results indicate that miRNA pathway genes play important roles in the molting, ovarian development and female fecundity of L. serricorne, and thus are potentially suitable target genes for developing an RNAi strategy against a major pest of stored products. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
微小 RNA（miRNA）途径基因已被广泛报道参与昆虫生命周期中的几个生理事件。烟草甲 Lasioderma serricorne 是世界范围内一种重要的经济仓储害虫。然而，miRNA 途径基因在 L. serricorne 中的功能仍有待阐明。在此，我们研究了 miRNA 途径在 L. serricorne 蜕皮和繁殖中的作用。
LsDicer-1、LsArgonaute-1、LsLoquacious 和 LsExportin-5 在成虫中普遍表达，而 LsPasha 和 LsDrosha 主要在蛹中表达。这些基因在不同组织中呈现出不同的表达模式。沉默 LsDicer-1、LsArgonaute-1、LsDrosha 和 LsExportin-5 导致高比例的翅膀畸形和蜕皮缺陷。沉默 LsDicer-1、LsArgonaute-1、LsPasha 和 LsLoquacious 影响卵巢发育和卵母细胞成熟，导致生育力显著下降。进一步研究表明，LsDicer-1 和 LsArgonaute-1 表达的降低破坏了滤泡上皮细胞，延迟了卵黄发生和卵母细胞发育。此外，这些 miRNA 途径核心基因的敲低导致几种 miRNA（let-7、let-7-5p、miR-8-3p、miR-8-5p、miR-9c-5p、miR-71、miR-252-5p、miR-277-3p、miR-263b 和 Novel-miR-50）的表达水平显著降低，表明它们在调节 miRNA 介导的基因表达中发挥重要作用。
结果表明，miRNA 途径基因在 L. serricorne 的蜕皮、卵巢发育和雌性生育力中发挥重要作用，因此可能是开发针对主要仓储害虫的 RNAi 策略的潜在靶标基因。© 2024 化学工业协会。
