Jones Andrew K, Song Zijiao, Huang Qiutang, Mao Xin, Jia Zhongqiang, Jiang Jie, Dandu Tejeswini, Zhao Chunqing
Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2025 Aug;182:104331. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2025.104331. Epub 2025 May 30.
The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), is a major pest of rice crops. It is commonly managed by pesticides, several of which act on cys-loop ligand-gated ion channels (cysLGICs). In insects, the cysLGIC superfamily consists of receptors that mediate fast excitatory or inhibitory synaptic transmission in the nervous system as well as performing non-neuronal roles. We present here the cysLGIC superfamily of C. suppressalis as well as that of the silk worm, Bombyx mori (Linnaeus), the first complete gene families from Lepidopteran species, which consists of 27 and 24 subunit-encoding genes, respectively. As with other insects, Chilo and Bombyx possess ion channels predicted to be gated by acetylcholine, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate and histamine, as well as orthologues of the Drosophila pH-sensitive chloride channel, CG8916 and CG12344. Both C. suppressalis and B. mori lack GRD (GABA and glycine receptor-like subunit of Drosophila), instead possessing extra RDL (resistance to dieldrin) subunits. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the C. suppressalis cysLGIC subunits can show differential expression levels throughout the insect's life cycle. Our findings reveal the complete cysLGIC gene families of B. mori and C. suppressalis. These findings enhance our understanding of the evolution of the insect cysLGIC superfamily and provide a useful basis for studying their function and action of pesticides.
二化螟（Chilo suppressalis (Walker)）是水稻作物的主要害虫。其防治通常依靠杀虫剂，其中几种作用于半胱氨酸环配体门控离子通道（cysLGICs）。在昆虫中，cysLGIC超家族由介导神经系统中快速兴奋性或抑制性突触传递以及发挥非神经元作用的受体组成。我们在此展示了二化螟的cysLGIC超家族以及家蚕（Bombyx mori (Linnaeus)）的cysLGIC超家族，这是鳞翅目物种的首个完整基因家族，分别由27个和24个亚基编码基因组成。与其他昆虫一样，二化螟和家蚕拥有预计由乙酰胆碱、γ-氨基丁酸、谷氨酸和组胺门控的离子通道，以及果蝇pH敏感氯离子通道CG8916和CG12344的直系同源物。二化螟和家蚕都缺乏GRD（果蝇的GABA和甘氨酸受体样亚基），而是拥有额外的RDL（对狄氏剂抗性）亚基。定量聚合酶链反应分析表明，二化螟cysLGIC亚基在昆虫的整个生命周期中可表现出不同的表达水平。我们的研究结果揭示了家蚕和二化螟完整的cysLGIC基因家族。这些发现增进了我们对昆虫cysLGIC超家族进化的理解，并为研究其功能和杀虫剂作用提供了有用的基础。
