Lu Rui-Han, Pang Xu-Dong, Wen Shuang-Qin, Smagghe Guy, Liu Tong-Xian, Gui Shun-Hua
Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of the Mountainous Region, Institute of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Institute of Plant Health and Medicine, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Insects. 2025 Apr 12;16(4):407. doi: 10.3390/insects16040407.
The regulation of locomotor behavior is essential for insects to perform their life activities. The central nervous system plays a pivotal role in modulating physiological behaviors, particularly movement, with neuropeptides serving as key modulators of these processes. Among these, adipokinetic hormone (AKH) was originally identified in insects as a neurohormone involved in lipid mobilization. This study investigates the functional role of AKHs (AKH1 and AKH2) and their receptor (AKHR) in regulating locomotion in the red flour beetle, . Using functional calcium reporter assays, we demonstrated that AKHR is activated by two mature AKH peptides from , with half-maximal effective concentrations (EC) falling within the nanomolar range. Gene expression analysis confirmed the presence of and transcripts in the brain, while expression was localized to the fat body and carcass. The silencing of or through RNA interference resulted in a significant reduction in both movement distance and duration. Collectively, these findings highlight the regulatory influence of AKH/AKHR signaling in locomotor activity in , thereby advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying locomotor control in this economically important insect species.
运动行为的调节对于昆虫进行其生命活动至关重要。中枢神经系统在调节生理行为，特别是运动方面起着关键作用，神经肽是这些过程的关键调节因子。其中，脂肪动激素（AKH）最初在昆虫中被鉴定为一种参与脂质动员的神经激素。本研究调查了AKHs（AKH1和AKH2）及其受体（AKHR）在调节赤拟谷盗运动中的功能作用。通过功能性钙报告基因检测，我们证明了AKHR可被来自赤拟谷盗的两种成熟AKH肽激活，其半数最大有效浓度（EC）处于纳摩尔范围内。基因表达分析证实了赤拟谷盗大脑中存在AKH1和AKH2转录本，而AKHR表达定位于脂肪体和体壁。通过RNA干扰使AKH1或AKH2沉默导致运动距离和持续时间显著减少。总的来说，这些发现突出了AKH/AKHR信号在赤拟谷盗运动活动中的调节作用，从而增进了我们对这种具有经济重要性的昆虫物种运动控制潜在分子机制的理解。
