Wei Qi, He Jia-Chun, Wang Wei-Xia, Lai Feng-Xiang, Wan Pin-Jun, Fu Qiang
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, China.
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, China.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2025 Feb;177:104250. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104250. Epub 2024 Dec 13.
Nilaparvata lugens, the brown planthopper (BPH), is a notorious pest threatening rice production across Asia. The heavy reliance on synthetic insecticides for control has led to resistance and raised ecological concerns. Substrate-borne vibrational communication, integral to species-specific mate recognition systems in insects, presents a potential avenue for pest management through mating disruption. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating vibrational signals in BPH remain poorly understood. In this study, we cloned and analyzed the clock gene period from BPH. The open reading frame of Nlper is 3708 bp, encoding a 1235-amino acid protein with two conserved domains: the Per-ARNT-Sim domain and the Period protein 2/3C-terminal region. It shares a closer evolutionary relationship with Laodelphax striatellus and Frankliniella occidentalis. Spatiotemporal expression analysis showed that Nlper was consistently expressed across all life stages and adult tissues, with the highest levels in macropterous males and male head, respectively. Rhythmic expression exhibited significant circadian oscillations under both light-dark and constant darkness conditions, peaking at 00:00 and reaching a trough at 12:00, with fold changes ranging from 2.47 to 3.39. Moreover, after dsRNA injection, Nlper expression decreased by 77.21%-84.26% from day 2 to day 5, disrupting the circadian oscillation of female vibrational signals (FVS) and causing a significant peak shift, along with a 30.56% reduction in FVS frequency on day 5. These findings underscore the essential role of Nlper in regulating the circadian rhythm of courtship vibrational signals, deepening our understanding of the genetic basis of insect communication and opening new possibilities for innovative pest management approaches.
褐飞虱（Nilaparvata lugens）是一种臭名昭著的害虫，威胁着亚洲各地的水稻生产。过度依赖合成杀虫剂进行防治已导致害虫产生抗性，并引发了生态问题。底物传播的振动通讯是昆虫物种特异性配偶识别系统的重要组成部分，为通过交配干扰进行害虫管理提供了一条潜在途径。然而，褐飞虱中调节振动信号的分子机制仍知之甚少。在本研究中，我们克隆并分析了褐飞虱的生物钟基因period。Nlper的开放阅读框为3708 bp，编码一个1235个氨基酸的蛋白质，该蛋白质具有两个保守结构域：Per-ARNT-Sim结构域和Period蛋白2/3 C末端区域。它与灰飞虱（Laodelphax striatellus）和西花蓟马（Frankliniella occidentalis）具有更近的进化关系。时空表达分析表明，Nlper在所有生命阶段和成虫组织中均持续表达，在长翅型雄虫和雄虫头部表达水平最高。在光暗和持续黑暗条件下，节律性表达均表现出显著的昼夜振荡，在00:00达到峰值，在12:00达到谷值，倍数变化范围为2.47至3.39。此外，注射dsRNA后，从第2天到第5天，Nlper表达下降了77.21%-84.26%，扰乱了雌虫振动信号（FVS）的昼夜振荡，导致显著的峰值偏移，并且在第5天FVS频率降低了30.56%。这些发现强调了Nlper在调节求偶振动信号昼夜节律中的重要作用，加深了我们对昆虫通讯遗传基础的理解，并为创新的害虫管理方法开辟了新的可能性。
