Manduca sexta serpin-7, a putative regulator of hemolymph prophenoloxidase activation

RNAi-mediated knockdown of serine protease inhibitor genes increases the mortality of Plutella xylostella challenged by destruxin A

Destruxin A is a mycotoxin that is secreted by entomopathogenic fungi which has a broad-spectrum insecticidal effect. Previous transcript and protein profiling analysis showed that destruxin A has significant effects on the expression of serine protease inhibitor genes (serpin-2, 4, 5) in the larvae of Plutella xylostella. In the current study, we aimed to understand the role of serpins under application of destruxin A. We obtained two full-length cDNA sequences of P. xylostella serpins, named serpin-4 and serpin-5, and cloned the serpin-2 gene whose full-length has already been published. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these two serpin genes were highly clustered with other serpins associated with the immune response in other insects. The temporal and spatial expression of serpin-2, serpin-4 and serpin-5 were determined to be the highest in the fat body and hemolymph of 4^th larval stage using qRT-PCR and western blot detection techniques. RNA interference (RNAi) mediated knockdown of P. xylostella serpin genes was carried out by microinjection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The expression levels of serpins decreased significantly after RNAi. Results showed that the depletion of serpins induced cecropins expression, increased phenoloxidase (PO) activity, body melanization and mortality in the larvae of P. xylostella under the same lethal concentration of destruxin A. The superimposed effects of serpins RNAi were similar with the destruxin A treatment upon mortality of P. xylostella larvae. We discovered for the first time that serpins play indispensable role in P. xylostella when challenged by destruxin A and deduced the possible function mechanism of destruxin A. Our findings are conducive to fully understanding the potential insecticidal mechanism of destruxin A and constitute a well-defined potential molecular target for novel insecticides.

De novo cloning and annotation of genes associated with immunity, detoxification and energy metabolism from the fat body of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is a destructive pest in tropical and subtropical areas. In this study, we performed transcriptome-wide analysis of the fat body of B. dorsalis and obtained more than 59 million sequencing reads, which were assembled into 27,787 unigenes with an average length of 591 bp. Among them, 17,442 (62.8%) unigenes matched known proteins in the NCBI database. The assembled sequences were further annotated with gene ontology, cluster of orthologous group terms, and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes. In depth analysis was performed to identify genes putatively involved in immunity, detoxification, and energy metabolism. Many new genes were identified including serpins, peptidoglycan recognition proteins and defensins, which were potentially linked to immune defense. Many detoxification genes were identified, including cytochrome P450s, glutathione S-transferases and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Many new transcripts possibly involved in energy metabolism, including fatty acid desaturases, lipases, alpha amylases, and trehalose-6-phosphate synthases, were identified. Moreover, we randomly selected some genes to examine their expression patterns in different tissues by quantitative real-time PCR, which indicated that some genes exhibited fat body-specific expression in B. dorsalis. The identification of a numerous transcripts in the fat body of B. dorsalis laid the foundation for future studies on the functions of these genes.

Identification of conserved and novel microRNAs in Manduca sexta and their possible roles in the expression regulation of immunity-related genes

The tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta has served as a model for insect biochemical and physiological research for decades. However, knowledge of the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression by microRNAs is still rudimentary in this species. Our previous study (Zhang et al., 2012) identified 163 conserved and 13 novel microRNAs in M. sexta, most of which were present at low levels in pupae. To identify additional M. sexta microRNAs and more importantly to examine their possible roles in the expression regulation of immunity-related genes, we constructed four small RNA libraries using fat body and hemocytes from naïve or bacteria-injected larvae and obtained 32.9 million reads of 18-31 nucleotides by Illumina sequencing. Mse-miR-929 and mse-miR-1b (antisense microRNA of mse-miR-1) were predicted in the previous study and now found to be conserved microRNAs in the tissue samples. We also found four novel microRNAs, two of which result from a gene cluster. Mse-miR-281-star, mse-miR-965-star, mse-miR-31-star, and mse-miR-9b-star were present at higher levels than their respective mature strands. Abundance changes of microRNAs were observed after the immune challenge. Based on the quantitative data of mRNA levels in control and induced fat body and hemocytes as well as the results of microRNA target site prediction, we suggest that certain microRNAs and microRNA*s regulate gene expression for pattern recognition, prophenoloxidase activation, cellular responses, antimicrobial peptide synthesis, and conserved intracellular signal transduction (Toll, IMD, JAK-STAT, MAPK-JNK-p38, and small interfering RNA pathways). In summary, this study has enriched our knowledge on M. sexta microRNAs and how some of them may participate in the expression regulation of immunity-related genes.

Identification, characterization and functional analysis of a serine protease inhibitor (Lvserpin) from the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

As important arthropod immune responses, prophenoloxidase (proPO) activation and Toll pathway initiation are mediated by serine proteinase cascades and regulated by serpins. Herein, a serine protease inhibitor (Lvserpin), encoding for 415 amino acids with calculated molecular weight of 46,639 Da and isoelectric point of 7.03 was characterized from the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Multiple sequence alignment revealed that Lvserpin shared the highest similarity with Penaeus monodon serpin6 (87%). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results showed that the transcripts of Lvserpin were detected in all the examined tissues and most highly expressed in gill. The expression profiles of Lvserpin were greatly fluctuated upon infection of Vibrio anguillarum, Micrococcus lysoleikticus or White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV). Double stranded RNA-mediated suppression of Lvserpin resulted in a significant increase in the transcripts of two clip-domain serine proteinases (PPAE and PPAF), prophenoloxidase (proPO), anti-lipopolysaccharide factor (ALF), Crustin and penaeidin3 (Pens3) and also increased the high cumulative mortality post V. anguillarum injection. Besides, the recombinant Lvserpin protein (rLvserpin) was purified and exhibited inhibitory activity against trypsin. Also the rLvserpin showed inhibition on prophenoloxidase activation and bacterial growth. Hence, we proposed that the Lvserpin played important role in the shrimp innate immunity.

Identification of immune response-related genes in the Chinese oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi by suppression subtractive hybridization

Insects possess an innate immune system that responds to invading microorganisms. In this study, a subtractive cDNA library was constructed to screen for immune response-related genes in the fat bodies of Antheraea pernyi (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) pupa challenged with Escherichia coli. Four hundred putative EST clones were identified by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH), including 50 immune response-related genes, three cytoskeleton genes, eight cell cycle and apoptosis genes, five respiration and energy metabolism genes, five transport genes, 40 metabolism genes, ten stress response genes, four transcription and translation regulation genes and 77 unknown genes. To verify the reliability of the SSH data, the transcription of a set of randomly selected immune response-related genes were confirmed by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). These identified immune response-related genes provide insight into understanding the innate immunity in A. pernyi.