Characterization and regulation of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxin binding aminopeptidases N (APNs) from non-gut visceral tissues, Malpighian tubule and salivary gland: Comparison with midgut-specific APN in the moth Achaea janata

Proteotranscriptomic analyses of the midgut and Malpighian tubules after a sublethal concentration of Cry1Ab exposure on Spodoptera litura

BACKGROUND

Cry1Ab has emerged as a bio-insecticide to control Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). However, the sublethal effects of Cry1Ab on the physiological changes and molecular level of S. litura have not been well documented. Our aims in this study were to assess the sublethal effect of Cry1Ab on S. litura, including midgut and Malpighian tubules as targets.

RESULTS

After sublethal Cry1Ab exposure, distinct histological alterations were mainly observed in the midgut. Furthermore, the results of comparative RNA sequencing and tandem mass tag-based proteomics showed that, in the midgut, most differential expression genes (DEGs) were up-regulated and significantly enriched in the serine protease activity pathway, and up-regulated differential expression proteins (DEPs) were mainly associated with the oxidative phosphorylation pathway, whereas the down-regulated involved in the ribosome pathways. In the Malpighian tubules, DEGs and DEPs were significantly enriched in the ribosome pathway. We proposed that ribosome may act as a universal target in energy metabolism with other pathways via the results of protein-protein interaction analysis. Further, by verification of the mRNA expression of some Cry protein receptor and detoxification genes after Cry1Ab treatment, it was suggested that the ribosomal proteins (RPs) possibly participate in influencing the Bt-resistance of S. litura larvae under sublethal Cry1Ab exposure.

CONCLUSION

Under sublethal Cry1Ab exposure, the midgut of S. litura was damaged, and the proteotranscriptomic analysis elucidated that Cry1Ab disrupted the energy homeostasis of larvae. Furthermore, we emphasized the potential role of ribosomes in sublethal Cry1Ab exposure. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Novel miR-108 and miR-234 target juvenile hormone esterase to regulate the response of Plutella xylostella to Cry1Ac protoxin

Insect hormones, such as juvenile hormone (JH), precisely regulate insect life-history traits. The regulation of JH is tightly associated with the tolerance or resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). JH esterase (JHE) is a primary JH-specific metabolic enzyme which plays a key role in regulating JH titer. Here, we characterized a JHE gene from Plutella xylostella (PxJHE), and found it was differentially expressed in the Bt Cry1Ac resistant and susceptible strains. Suppression of PxJHE expression with RNAi increased the tolerance of P. xylostella to Cry1Ac protoxin. To investigate the regulatory mechanism of PxJHE, two target site prediction algorithms were applied to predict the putative miRNAs targeting PxJHE, and the resulting putative miRNAs were subsequently verified for their function targeting PxJHE using luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation. MiR-108 or miR-234 agomir delivery dramatically reduced PxJHE expression in vivo, whilst only miR-108 overexpression consequently increased the tolerance of P. xylostella larvae to Cry1Ac protoxin. By contrast, reduction of miR-108 or miR-234 dramatically increased PxJHE expression, accompanied by the decreased tolerance to Cry1Ac protoxin. Furthermore, injection of miR-108 or miR-234 led to developmental defects in P. xylostella, whilst injection of antagomir did not cause any obvious abnormal phenotypes. Our results indicated that miR-108 or miR-234 can be applied as potential molecular targets to combat P. xylostella and perhaps other lepidopteran pests, providing novel insights into miRNA-based integrated pest management.

Loss of control of the culturable bacteria in the hindgut of Bombyx mori after Cry1Ab ingestion

Bt protein, produced by Bacillus thuringiensis, can bind receptors to destroy the physiological functions of the insect midgut. It is unknown whether Bt can also target the hindgut and influence its defense against fecal bacteria. Here we show that Crystal protein 1Ab (Cry1Ab), a Bt protein, was detected in the larval hindgut contents of Bombyx mori after ingestion of this toxin protein. The number of fecal bacteria that can be inhibited by the hindgut prophenoloxidase-induced melanization was significantly enhanced after oral ingestion of Cry1Ab. Although the hindgut contents became brown, the activity of hindgut phenoloxidase was decreased. LC-MS/MS analysis of the hindgut lumen contents revealed that many new proteins including several proteases were newly secreted. The enhanced secretion of proteases cleaved prophenoloxidase to decrease its activity, including the corresponding activity to inhibit the fecal bacteria. In addition, after ingestion of Cry1Ab, the pylorus (between the midgut and hindgut) could not autonomously contract due to the physical detachment of the acellular cuticle-like membrane from the epidermal cells, which prevented the movement of food from the midgut to the hindgut. Some cells in the cryptonephry of the hindgut became swollen and degraded, possibly due to the presence of Cry1Ab in the hindgut. These findings demonstrate that the inhibition of feces bacteria by the hindgut prophenoloxidase-induced melanization is out of control after Cry1Ab ingestion.

MAPK-dependent hormonal signaling plasticity contributes to overcoming Bacillus thuringiensis toxin action in an insect host

The arms race between entomopathogenic bacteria and their insect hosts is an excellent model for decoding the intricate coevolutionary processes of host-pathogen interaction. Here, we demonstrate that the MAPK signaling pathway is a general switch to trans-regulate differential expression of aminopeptidase N and other midgut genes in an insect host, diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), thereby countering the virulence effect of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins. Moreover, the MAPK cascade is activated and fine-tuned by the crosstalk between two major insect hormones, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) and juvenile hormone (JH) to elicit an important physiological response (i.e. Bt resistance) without incurring the significant fitness costs often associated with pathogen resistance. Hormones are well known to orchestrate physiological trade-offs in a wide variety of organisms, and our work decodes a hitherto undescribed function of these classic hormones and suggests that hormonal signaling plasticity is a general cross-kingdom strategy to fend off pathogens.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an important bioinsecticide, but high-level resistance has been rapidly evolving in agricultural pests. Here, Guo et al. show that the MAPK cascade can be activated by enhanced upstream insect hormone signals to counter Bt virulence in the diamondback moth.

De novo characterization of the pine aphid Cinara pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang transcriptome and analysis of genes relevant to pesticides

The pine aphid Cinara pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang is the main pine pest in China, it causes pine needles to produce dense dew (honeydew) which can lead to sooty mold (black filamentous saprophytic ascomycetes). Although common chemical and physical strategies are used to prevent the disease caused by C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang, new strategies based on biological and/or genetic approaches are promising to control and eradicate the disease. However, there is no information about genomics, proteomics or transcriptomics to allow the design of new control strategies for this pine aphid. We used next generation sequencing technology to sequence the transcriptome of C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang and built a transcriptome database. We identified 80,259 unigenes assigned for Gene Ontology (GO) terms and information for a total of 11,609 classified unigenes was obtained in the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs). A total of 10,806 annotated unigenes were analyzed to identify the represented biological pathways, among them 8,845 unigenes matched with 228 KEGG pathways. In addition, our data describe propagative viruses, nutrition-related genes, detoxification related molecules, olfactory related receptors, stressed-related protein, putative insecticide resistance genes and possible insecticide targets. Moreover, this study provides valuable information about putative insecticide resistance related genes and for the design of new genetic/biological based strategies to manage and control C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang populations.

Next Generation Sequencing Identifies Five Major Classes of Potentially Therapeutic Enzymes Secreted by Lucilia sericata Medical Maggots

Lucilia sericata larvae are used as an alternative treatment for recalcitrant and chronic wounds. Their excretions/secretions contain molecules that facilitate tissue debridement, disinfect, or accelerate wound healing and have therefore been recognized as a potential source of novel therapeutic compounds. Among the substances present in excretions/secretions various peptidase activities promoting the wound healing processes have been detected but the peptidases responsible for these activities remain mostly unidentified. To explore these enzymes we applied next generation sequencing to analyze the transcriptomes of different maggot tissues (salivary glands, gut, and crop) associated with the production of excretions/secretions and/or with digestion as well as the rest of the larval body. As a result we obtained more than 123.8 million paired-end reads, which were assembled de novo using Trinity and Oases assemblers, yielding 41,421 contigs with an N50 contig length of 2.22 kb and a total length of 67.79 Mb. BLASTp analysis against the MEROPS database identified 1729 contigs in 577 clusters encoding five peptidase classes (serine, cysteine, aspartic, threonine, and metallopeptidases), which were assigned to 26 clans, 48 families, and 185 peptidase species. The individual enzymes were differentially expressed among maggot tissues and included peptidase activities related to the therapeutic effects of maggot excretions/secretions.

Sugarcane giant borer transcriptome analysis and identification of genes related to digestion

Sugarcane is a widely cultivated plant that serves primarily as a source of sugar and ethanol. Its annual yield can be significantly reduced by the action of several insect pests including the sugarcane giant borer (Telchin licus licus), a lepidopteran that presents a long life cycle and which efforts to control it using pesticides have been inefficient. Although its economical relevance, only a few DNA sequences are available for this species in the GenBank. Pyrosequencing technology was used to investigate the transcriptome of several developmental stages of the insect. To maximize transcript diversity, a pool of total RNA was extracted from whole body insects and used to construct a normalized cDNA database. Sequencing produced over 650,000 reads, which were de novo assembled to generate a reference library of 23,824 contigs. After quality score and annotation, 43% of the contigs had at least one BLAST hit against the NCBI non-redundant database, and 40% showed similarities with the lepidopteran Bombyx mori. In a further analysis, we conducted a comparison with Manduca sexta midgut sequences to identify transcripts of genes involved in digestion. Of these transcripts, many presented an expansion or depletion in gene number, compared to B. mori genome. From the sugarcane giant borer (SGB) transcriptome, a number of aminopeptidase N (APN) cDNAs were characterized based on homology to those reported as Cry toxin receptors. This is the first report that provides a large-scale EST database for the species. Transcriptome analysis will certainly be useful to identify novel developmental genes, to better understand the insect's biology and to guide the development of new strategies for insect-pest control.

RNA interference-mediated knockdown of three putative aminopeptidases N affects susceptibility of Spodoptera exigua larvae to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ca

Aminopeptidase N (APN) isoforms in insects have been documented to be involved in the mode of action of insecticidal crystal proteins (Cry) from Bacillus thuringiensis. Here we cloned two novel Seapns from the larval midgut of Spodoptera exigua, a major pest of many crops of economic importance in China. According to a phylogenetic analysis, these two novel SeAPNs, along with the four SeAPN isoforms already described, belong to six different clades. All the six SeAPNs share similar structural features. From N- to C-terminus a signal peptide, a gluzincin aminopeptidase motif, a zinc binding/gluzincin motif, and a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor sequence are located. The six Seapn genes were highly expressed at the larval stage, especially in the larval gut. Ingestion during four consecutive days of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) targeting Seapn1, Seapn2, Seapn3, Seapn4, Seapn5 and Seapn6 significantly reduced corresponding mRNA levels by 55.6%, 45.5%, 43.2%, 56.8%, 45.4%, and 46.0% respectively, compared with those recorded in control larvae fed on non-specific dsRNA (dsegfp). When the larvae that previously ingested phosphate buffered saline (PBS)-, dsegfp-, or six dsSeapns-overlaid diets were then exposed to a diet containing Cry1Ca, the larval mortalities were 71.2%, 69.3%, 52.0%, 77.2%, 43.3%, 62.0%, 65.4% and 53.8% respectively recorded after 6days. ANOVA analysis revealed that the larvae previously fed on dsSeapn1-, dsSeapn3-, and dsSeapn6-overlaid diets had significantly lower mortalities than those previously ingested PBS-, dsegfp-, dsSeapn2-, dsSeapn4- and dsSeapn5-overlaid diets. Thus, these results suggest that SeAPN1, SeAPN3 and SeAPN6 may be candidate receptors for Cry1Ca in S. exigua.

Functional interpretation of a non-gut hemocoelic tissue aminopeptidase N (APN) in a lepidopteran insect pest Achaea janata

Insect midgut membrane-anchored aminopeptidases N (APNs) are Zn(++) dependent metalloproteases. Their primary role in dietary protein digestion and also as receptors in Cry toxin-induced pathogenesis is well documented. APN expression in few non-gut hemocoelic tissues of lepidopteran insects has also been reported but their functions are widely unknown. In the present study, we observed specific in vitro interaction of Cry1Aa toxin with a 113 kDa AjAPN1 membrane protein of larval fat body, Malpighian tubule and salivary gland of Achaea janata. Analyses of 3D molecular structure of AjAPN1, the predominantly expressed APN isoform in these non-gut hemocoelic tissues of A. janata showed high structural similarity to the Cry1Aa toxin binding midgut APN of Bombyx mori, especially in the toxin binding region. Structural similarity was further substantiated by in vitro binding of Cry1Aa toxin. RNA interference (RNAi) resulted in significant down-regulation of AjAPN1 transcript and protein expression in fat body and Malpighian tubule but not in salivary gland. Consequently, reduced AjAPN1 expression resulted in larval mortality, larval growth arrest, development of lethal larval-pupal intermediates, development of smaller pupae and emergence of viable defective adults. In vitro Cry1Aa toxin binding analysis of non-gut hemocoelic tissues of AjAPN1 knockdown larvae showed reduced interaction of Cry1Aa toxin with the 113 kDa AjAPN1 protein, correlating well with the significant silencing of AjAPN1 expression. Thus, our observations suggest AjAPN1 expression in non-gut hemocoelic tissues to play important physiological role(s) during post-embryonic development of A. janata. Though specific interaction of Cry1Aa toxin with AjAPN1 of non-gut hemocoelic tissues of A. janata was demonstrated, evidences to prove its functional role as a Cry1Aa toxin receptor will require more in-depth investigation.