The cuticle, an essential structure for insects, is produced from cuticular proteins and chitin via a series of biochemical reactions. Tweedle genes are important members of the cuticular protein family and have four ...The cuticle, an essential structure for insects, is produced from cuticular proteins and chitin via a series of biochemical reactions. Tweedle genes are important members of the cuticular protein family and have four conserved motifs binding to chitin. Tweedle family genes have been found to play a profound effect on cuticle development. Here, we report that the cuticular protein gene LmTwdll ofLocusta migratoria belongs to the Tweedle family. In situ hybridization showed that LmTwdll is localized to epidermal cells of the cuticle. The expression patterns of LmTwdll showed low expression in the cuticle during the early and middle stages of the fifth-instar nymphs; in contrast, its expression rapidly increased in the late stages of fifth-instar nymphs. We performed RNA interference to examine the function of LmTwdll in locusts. Silencing of LmTwdll resulted in high mortality during the molting process before the next stage. Also, the epicuticle of nymphs failed to molt, tended to be thinner and the arrangement of chitin in the procuticle appeared to be disordered compare to the control group. These results demonstrate that LmTwdl! plays a critical role in molting, which contributes to a better understanding of the distinct functions of the Tweedle family in locusts.展开更多
The acrostyle is a distinct anatomical region present on the cuticle at the inner face of the common food/salivary canal at the tip of aphid maxillary stylets. This conserved structure is of particular interest as it ...The acrostyle is a distinct anatomical region present on the cuticle at the inner face of the common food/salivary canal at the tip of aphid maxillary stylets. This conserved structure is of particular interest as it harbors the protein receptors of at least l plant virus, Cauliflower mosaic virus＇, and presumably has other roles in plant-insect interactions. Previously we reported immunolabeling of a highly conserved motif of cuticular proteins from the CPR family （named for the presence of a Rebers and Riddiford consensus） within the acrostyle. Here we report the development of novel tools to further study the proteomic composition of this region and to identify proteins involved in insect- virus interactions. Using a series of antibodies against cuticular proteins from the RR-2 subfamily, we identified additional peptides present within the acrostyle. Our results demonstrated that the acrostyle is a complex structure containing multiple domains of cuticular proteins accessible for interaction. In addition, an array of overlapping peptides,which covers the diversity of the majority of the RR-2 subfamily, was ~tevelopect as a generic tool to characterize cuticular protein/pathogen interactions. Upon probing this array with Cucumber mosaic virus particles, consensus peptide sequences from hybridizing peptides were identified. Use of these novel tools has extended our knowledge of the proteomic composition of insect maxillary stylets and identified sequences that could be involved in virus binding, thus contributing to further elucidation of the various properties and functions of the acrostyle.展开更多
Recently,parasitoid wasp species Microplitis mediator has evoked increasing research attention due to its possible use in the control of Lepidoptera insects.Because insect development involves changes in cuticle compo...Recently,parasitoid wasp species Microplitis mediator has evoked increasing research attention due to its possible use in the control of Lepidoptera insects.Because insect development involves changes in cuticle composition,identification and expression analysis of M.mediator cuticular proteins may clarify the mechanisms involved in parasite development processes.We found 70 cuticular proteins from the M.mediator transcrip-tome and divided them into seven distinct families.Expression profiling indicated that most of these cuticular protein genes have expression peaks specific for one particular developmental stage of M.mediator.Eggs and pupae have the highest number of tran-scriptionally active cuticular protein genes(47 and 52 respectively).Only 12 of these genes maintained high expression activity during late larval development.Functional analysis of two larval proteins,MmCPR3 and MmCPR 14,suggested their important role in the proper organization of the cuticle layers of larvac.During M.mediator larval development,normal cuticle formation can be supported by a limited number of cuticular proteins.展开更多
基金This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants （Nos. 31472051, 31201710）, Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province of China （2014011028-3）, Fund Program for the Scientific Activities of Selected Returned Overseas Professionals in Shanxi Province, the Platform Project of Science and Technology in Shanxi Province （2015091010）, and National Basic Research Program of China （No. 2012CB114102）. We thank Dr. Feng Jiang for critical comments on the manuscript.
文摘The cuticle, an essential structure for insects, is produced from cuticular proteins and chitin via a series of biochemical reactions. Tweedle genes are important members of the cuticular protein family and have four conserved motifs binding to chitin. Tweedle family genes have been found to play a profound effect on cuticle development. Here, we report that the cuticular protein gene LmTwdll ofLocusta migratoria belongs to the Tweedle family. In situ hybridization showed that LmTwdll is localized to epidermal cells of the cuticle. The expression patterns of LmTwdll showed low expression in the cuticle during the early and middle stages of the fifth-instar nymphs; in contrast, its expression rapidly increased in the late stages of fifth-instar nymphs. We performed RNA interference to examine the function of LmTwdll in locusts. Silencing of LmTwdll resulted in high mortality during the molting process before the next stage. Also, the epicuticle of nymphs failed to molt, tended to be thinner and the arrangement of chitin in the procuticle appeared to be disordered compare to the control group. These results demonstrate that LmTwdl! plays a critical role in molting, which contributes to a better understanding of the distinct functions of the Tweedle family in locusts.
文摘The acrostyle is a distinct anatomical region present on the cuticle at the inner face of the common food/salivary canal at the tip of aphid maxillary stylets. This conserved structure is of particular interest as it harbors the protein receptors of at least l plant virus, Cauliflower mosaic virus＇, and presumably has other roles in plant-insect interactions. Previously we reported immunolabeling of a highly conserved motif of cuticular proteins from the CPR family （named for the presence of a Rebers and Riddiford consensus） within the acrostyle. Here we report the development of novel tools to further study the proteomic composition of this region and to identify proteins involved in insect- virus interactions. Using a series of antibodies against cuticular proteins from the RR-2 subfamily, we identified additional peptides present within the acrostyle. Our results demonstrated that the acrostyle is a complex structure containing multiple domains of cuticular proteins accessible for interaction. In addition, an array of overlapping peptides,which covers the diversity of the majority of the RR-2 subfamily, was ~tevelopect as a generic tool to characterize cuticular protein/pathogen interactions. Upon probing this array with Cucumber mosaic virus particles, consensus peptide sequences from hybridizing peptides were identified. Use of these novel tools has extended our knowledge of the proteomic composition of insect maxillary stylets and identified sequences that could be involved in virus binding, thus contributing to further elucidation of the various properties and functions of the acrostyle.
基金This work was supported by the National Key Plan for Scientific Research and Development of China(2017YFD0200400)and the National Key Plan for Scientific Research and Development of China(2016YFC1200603)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foun-dation of China(31872298)Open Research Fund Pro-gram of State Key Laboratory ofIPM(Chinese IPM 1803).
文摘Recently,parasitoid wasp species Microplitis mediator has evoked increasing research attention due to its possible use in the control of Lepidoptera insects.Because insect development involves changes in cuticle composition,identification and expression analysis of M.mediator cuticular proteins may clarify the mechanisms involved in parasite development processes.We found 70 cuticular proteins from the M.mediator transcrip-tome and divided them into seven distinct families.Expression profiling indicated that most of these cuticular protein genes have expression peaks specific for one particular developmental stage of M.mediator.Eggs and pupae have the highest number of tran-scriptionally active cuticular protein genes(47 and 52 respectively).Only 12 of these genes maintained high expression activity during late larval development.Functional analysis of two larval proteins,MmCPR3 and MmCPR 14,suggested their important role in the proper organization of the cuticle layers of larvac.During M.mediator larval development,normal cuticle formation can be supported by a limited number of cuticular proteins.
