Reaper homologue IBM1 in silkwormBombyx moriinduces apoptosis upon baculovirus infection

Apoptosis-related long non-coding RNA LINC5438 of Bombyx mori promotes the proliferation of BmNPV

Apoptosis, as an important part of the immune response, is one of the core events in the host-virus interaction. Studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the process of cell apoptosis and pathophysiology. To investigate the apoptosis-related lncRNAs involved in Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) infecting silkworms, transcriptome sequencing was conducted based on silkworm cells infected with BmNPV before and after B. mori inhibitor of apoptosis (Bmiap) gene knockout. A total of 23 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified as being associated with the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Moreover, we demonstrated that B. mori LINC5438 has the function of inhibiting apoptosis in silkworm cells. Overexpression of LINC5438 promoted the proliferation of BmNPV, while interference with LINC5438 inhibited its proliferation, indicating that LINC5438 plays an important role in BmNPV infection. Our results also showed that LINC5438 can regulate the expression of Bmiap, BmDronc, BmICE, and its predicted target gene BmAIF, suggesting that LINC5438 may function through the mitochondrial pathway. These findings provide important insights into the mechanisms of virus-host interaction and the applications of baculoviruses as biological insecticides.

The Mechanisms of Silkworm Resistance to the Baculovirus and Antiviral Breeding

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is not only an economic insect but also a model organism for life science research. Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) disease is a major infectious disease in the world's sericulture industry. The cocoon loss caused by this disease accounts for more than 60% of the total loss caused by all silkworm diseases. To date, there has been no effective solution for preventing and treating this disease. The most effective measure is to breed disease-resistant varieties. The quickest way to breed disease-resistant varieties is to apply genetic modification. However, this requires that we obtain disease resistance genes and know the mechanism of disease resistance. Since the discovery of disease-resistant resources in 1989, scholars in the sericulture industry around the world have been inspired to search for resistance genes. In the past two decades, with the help of multi-omics technologies, screening of resistance genes, gene localization, protein modification, virus-host interactions, etc., researchers have found some candidate genes that have been proposed to function at the cellular or individual level. Several disease-resistant varieties have been obtained and used in production through hybrid breeding, RNA interference, and genetic modification. This article summarizes and reviews the discovery of and research advances related to silkworm resistance to BmNPV. It is anticipated that the review will inspire scientific researchers to continue searching for disease resistance genes, clarify the molecular mechanism of silkworm disease resistance, and promote disease-resistant silkworm breeding.

Impact of Group II Baculovirus IAPs on Virus-Induced Apoptosis in Insect Cells

Apoptosis plays an important role in virus-host interactions and is a major element of the insect immune response. Exploring the regulatory mechanisms of virus-induced apoptosis through the expression of apoptotic genes holds important research and application value. Functional research on the reported inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) mainly focuses on the group I baculovirus, while the functions of the group II baculovirus IAPs remains unclear. To explore its role in the regulation of the apoptosis of insect cells, we constructed the transient expression vector (pIE1 vectors) and the recombinant baculovirus expressing Bsiap genes (from the Buzura suppressaria nucleopolyhedrovirus) of the group II baculovirus. Apoptosis gene expression results and the virus-induced apoptosis rate show that the overexpression of BsIAP1 could promote apoptosis in insect cells. However, the overexpression of BsIAP2 and BsIAP3 decreases the expression of apoptotic genes, revealing an inhibitory effect. Results on the impact of baculovirus-induced apoptosis also confirm that BsIAP1 reduces viral nucleocapsid expression and the baculovirus titer, while BsIAP2 and BsIAP3 increase them significantly. Furthermore, compared with single expression, the co-expression of BsIAP2 and BsIAP3 significantly reduces the rate of virus-induced apoptosis and improves the expression of nucleocapsids and the titer of offspring virus, indicating the synergistic effect on BsIAP2 and BsIAP3. In addition, combined expression of all three BsIAPs significantly reduced levels of intracellular apoptosis-related genes (including apoptosis and anti-apoptosis genes), as well as apoptosis rate and progeny virus titer, indicating that life activities in insect cells are also inhibited. These findings reveal the relationship between apoptosis and group II baculovirus IAP, which provide an experimental and theoretical basis for further exploration of the molecular mechanism between group II baculoviruses and insect cells.

Deep Conservation of Hid-Like RHG Gene Family Homologs in Winged Insects Revealed by "Taxon Hopping" BLAST

Together with sickle (skl), the Drosophila paralogs reaper (rpr), head involution defective (hid), and grim (RHG) control a critical switch in the induction of programmed cell death. RHG homologs have been identified in other dipteran and lepidopteran species but not beyond. Revisiting this issue with a "taxon hopping" BLAST search strategy in current genome and transcriptome resources, I detected high confidence RHG homologs in Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Dictyoptera. Analyses of gene structure and protein sequence conservation revealed aconserved splicing pattern and highly conserved amino acid residues at both the N- and C-terminal ends that identify hid as the most ancestrally organized RHG gene family member in Drosophila. hid-like RHG homologs were also detected in mosquitoes, redefining their michelob_x (mx) genes as an expansion of derived RHG homologs. Only singleton homologs were detected in the large majority of other insect clades. Lepidopteran RHG homologs, however, stand out by producing an evolutionarily-derived splice isoform, identified in previous work, in addition to the newly detected hid-like isoform. Exceptional sequence diversification of select RHG homologs at the family- and genus-level explain their previous elusiveness in important insect genome model species like the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Combined, these findings expand the minimal age of the RHG gene family by about 100 million years and open new avenues for molecular cell death studies in insects.

Plants impact cellular immunity of caterpillars to an entomovirus

BACKGROUND

Tri-trophic interactions among plants, insect herbivores and entomopathogens are one of the hot topics in ecology. Although plants have been shown to impact the interactions between herbivores and entomopathogens, it is still unclear how plants affect the cellular immunity of herbivores to entomopathogens.

RESULTS

The number of hemocytes and the proportion of two main cell types (granular hemocytes and plasmatocytes), plasmatocyte-spreading rate, apoptosis rate, two Spodoptera exigua caspase (SeCasp-1, SeCasp-5) activities and gene expressions were all higher and the activities and gene expression of S. exigua inhibitor of apoptosis protein (SeIAP) were lower in nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV)-infected caterpillars fed Ipomoea aquatica than those fed other plants or artificial diet. Scanning electron microscopy images were consistent with molecular patterns of immune responses.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that host plants affect the immune responses of herbivores to entomopathogens by manipulating the composition, morphology and apoptosis of herbivore hemocytes, which sheds light on the mechanisms that allow host plants to influence multi-trophic interactions. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Identification and Functional Analysis of BmNPV-Interacting Proteins From Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera) Larval Midgut Based on Subcellular Protein Levels

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is a major pathogen causing severe economic loss. However, the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV and the interactions of this virus with the host during infection remain largely unclear. To explore the virus-binding proteins of silkworms, the midgut subcellular component proteins that may interact with BmNPV were analyzed in vitro based on one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis and far-western blotting combined with mass spectrometry (MS). A total of 24 proteins were determined to be specifically bound to budded viruses (BVs) in two subcellular fractions (mitochondria and microsomes). These proteins were involved in viral transportation, energy metabolism, apoptosis and viral propagation, and they responded to BmNPV infection with different expression profiles in different resistant strains. In particular, almost all the identified proteins were downregulated in the A35 strain following BmNPV infection. Interestingly, there were no virus-binding proteins identified in the cytosolic fraction of the silkworm midgut. Two candidate proteins, RACK1 and VDAC2, interacted with BVs, as determined with far-western blotting and reverse far-western blotting. We speculated that the proteins interacting with the virus could either enhance or inhibit the infection of the virus. The data provide comprehensive useful information for further research on the interaction of the host with BmNPV.

Pro-Apoptotic Function Analysis of the Reaper Homologue IBM1 in Spodoptera frugiperda

As an important type of programmed cell death, apoptosis plays a critical role in lepidopteran insects in response to various internal and external stresses. It is controlled by a network of genes such as those encoding the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. However, there are few studies on apoptosis-related genes in Spodoptera frugiperda. In this study, an orthologue to the Drosophila reaper gene, named Sf-IBM1, was identified from S. frugiperda, and a full-length sequence was obtained by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends PCR (RACE-PCR). The expression pattern of Sf-IBM1 was determined in different developmental stages and various tissues. Apoptotic stimuli including azadirachtin, camptothecin, and ultraviolet radiation (UV) induced the expression of Sf-IBM1 at both transcript and protein levels. Overexpression of Sf-IBM1 induced apoptosis in Sf9 cells, and the Sf-IBM1 protein was localized in mitochondria. The apoptosis induced by Sf-IBM1 could be blocked by the caspase universal inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoromethylketone (Z-VAD-FMK) and Sf-IAP1. Our results provide valuable information that should contribute to a better understanding of the molecular events that lead to apoptosis in lepidopterans.

Inhibition of expression of BmNPV cg30 by bmo-miRNA-390 is a host response to baculovirus invasion

Bombyx mori larvae exhibit in vivo defensive reactions immediately after invasion by a virus. One of these defense systems is to express appropriate microRNAs (miRNAs) to respond to the infection. A novel Bombyx mori-encoded miRNA, bmo-miR-390, was identified previously by high-throughput sequencing. Based on bioinformatic predictions, the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus cg30 gene (BmNPV-cg30) is one of the target genes of bmo-miR-390. In this study, expression vectors with an enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) or a luciferase (luc) reporter gene together with bm-miR-390 or the cg30 3' UTR were constructed and used to co-transfect BmN cells. Using a dual luciferase reporter (DLR) assay, we found that bmo-miR-390 significantly downregulates the expression of BmNPV-cg30 (P < 0.05) in vitro. Moreover, artificially synthesized bmo-miR-390 mimics enhanced the regulatory effect of bmo-miR-390, while an inhibitor eliminated the inhibitory effect. These results show for the first time that bmo-miR-390 can effectively downregulate the expression of BmNPV-cg30 in BmNPV-infected BmN cells.

Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Activity of the Novel Harmine Derivative ZC-14 in Sf9 Cells

Harmine, one of the natural β-carboline alkaloids extracted from Peganum harmala L., exhibits broad spectrum but limited insecticidal ability against many pests. So there is an urgent need to synthesize novel derivatives with high efficiency. In the present study, a new synthetic compound, [1-(2-naphthyl)-3-(2-thioxo-1,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl) β-carboline] (ZC-14), showed a strong proliferation inhibition effect against the Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. Simultaneously, apoptosis induced by 7.5 μg/mL ZC-14 was confirmed with physiological and biochemical evidence, including typical apoptosis characteristics with shrinkage, apoptotic bodies, nuclear condensation/fragmentation, a clear DNA ladder, and a series of apoptotic rates. In addition, mitochondria were confirmed to be involved in apoptosis induced by ZC-14 accompanied with the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol and increased expression of cleaved-caspase-3. However, harmine could not induce apoptosis at the same concentration. In summary, these data indicated that compound ZC-14 has a higher cytotoxicity than harmine against Sf9 cells. Besides, it exhibited an anti-proliferative effect in Sf9 cells via inducing apoptosis in which the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway plays a crucial role.

Azadirachtin Affects the Growth of Spodoptera litura Fabricius by Inducing Apoptosis in Larval Midgut

Azadirachtin, the environmentally friendly botanical pesticide, has been used as an antifeedant and pest growth regulator in integrated pest management for decades. It has shown strong biological activity against Spodoptera litura, but the mechanism of toxicity remains unclear. The present study showed that azadirachtin inhibited the growth of S. litura larvae, which was resulted by structure destroy and size inhibition of the midgut. Digital gene expression (DGE) analysis of midgut suggested that azadirachtin regulated the transcriptional level of multiple unigenes involved in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and calcium apoptotic signaling pathways. Simultaneously, the expression patterns of some differentially expressed unigenes were verified by quantitative real time-PCR (qRT-PCR). In addition, the enhanced terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, the increased expression of caspase family members and apoptosis-binding motif 1 (IBM1) on both gene and protein level and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytoplasm were induced in midgut after azadirachtin treatment. These results demonstrated that azadirachtin induced structural alteration in S. litura larval midgut by apoptosis activation. These alterations may affect the digestion and absorption of nutrients and eventually lead to the growth inhibition of larvae.

Caspase-1 from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, is involved in Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus infection

Caspase-1 is one of the effector caspases in mammals that plays a central role in apoptosis. However, the lepidopteran caspase-1, especially the Bombyx mori caspase-1 (Bm-caspase-1), has not been investigated in detail. In this study, Bm-caspase-1 was identified from an expressed sequence tag database in B. mori by BLAST search. The open reading frame of Bm-caspase-1 contained 879 nucleotides and encoded 293 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 33 kDa. Bm-caspase-1 contained two consensus amino acid motifs of caspase cleavage sites, DEGDA and TETDG. Caspase activity assays revealed significant proteolytic activity of the Ac-DEVD-pNA substrate. Bm-caspase-1 can be detected in all tissues and developmental stages by a semi quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. More importantly, the expression level of Bm-caspase-1 is increased upon baculovirus infection and up-regulated in BmNPV-resistant silkworms. Taken together, these results indicate that Bm-caspase-1 plays an important role during baculovirus infection.

Cloning and functional characterizations of an apoptogenic Hid gene in the Scuttle Fly, Megaselia scalaris (Diptera; Phoridae)

Although the mechanisms of apoptotic cell death have been well studied in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, it is unclear whether such mechanisms are conserved in other distantly related species. Using degenerate primers and PCR, we cloned a proapoptotic gene homologous to Head involution defective (Hid) from the Scuttle fly, Megaselia scalaris (MsHid). MsHid cDNA encodes a 197-amino acid-long polypeptide, which so far is the smallest HID protein. PCR analyses revealed that the MsHid gene consists of four exons and three introns. Ectopic expression of MsHid in various peptidergic neurons and non-neuronal tissues in Drosophila effectively induced apoptosis of these cells. However, deletion of either conserved domain, N-terminal IBM or C-terminal MTS, abolished the apoptogenic activity of MsHID, indicating that these two domains are indispensable. Expression of MsHid was found in all life stages, but more prominently in embryos and pupae. MsHid is actively expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), indicating its important role in CNS development. Together MsHID is likely to be an important cell death inducer during embryonic and post-embryonic development in this species. In addition, we found 2-fold induction of MsHid expression in UV-irradiated embryos, indicating a possible role for MsHid in UV-induced apoptosis.

Functional analysis of inhibitor of apoptosis 1 of the silkworm Bombyx mori

Recent advances in genome-wide surveys have revealed a number of lepidopteran insect homologs of mammalian and Drosophila genes that are responsible for apoptosis regulation. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms for apoptosis regulation in lepidopteran insect cells remain poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrated that the transfection of Bombyx mori BM-N cells with dsRNA against the B. mori cellular iap1 gene (cbm-iap1) induces severe apoptosis that is accompanied by an increase of caspase-3-like protease activity. In these apoptotic cells, the cleaved form of the endogenous initiator caspase Dronc (Bm-Dronc) was detected, indicating that cBm-IAP1 protein depletion by RNAi silencing resulted in the activation of Bm-Dronc. In transient expression assays in BM-N cells, cBm-IAP1 suppressed the apoptosis triggered by Bm-Dronc overexpression and depressed the elevation of caspase-3-like protease activity, but also increased the cleaved form of Bm-Dronc protein. cBm-IAP1 also suppressed the caspase-3-like protease activity stimulated by Bm-caspase-1 overexpression. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that cBm-IAP1 strongly interacts with Bm-Dronc, but only has weak affinity for Bm-caspase-1. Transient expression analyses showed that truncated cBm-IAP1 proteins defective in the BIR1, BIR2 or RING domain were unable to suppress Bm-Dronc-induced apoptosis. In addition, BM-N cells expressing truncated cBm-IAP1 proteins underwent apoptosis, suggesting that intact cBm-IAP1, which has anti-apoptotic activity, was replaced or displaced by the overexpressed truncated cBm-IAP1 proteins, which are incapable of interfering with the apoptotic caspase cascade. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that cBm-IAP1 is a vital negative regulator of apoptosis in BM-N cells and functions by preventing the activation and/or activity of Bm-Dronc and Bm-caspase-1.

Roles and regulation of autophagy and apoptosis in the remodelling of the lepidopteran midgut epithelium during metamorphosis

We previously showed that autophagy and apoptosis occur in the removal of the lepidopteran larval midgut during metamorphosis. However, their roles in this context and the molecular pathways underlying their activation and regulation were only hypothesized. The results of the present study better clarify the timing of the activation of these two processes: autophagic and apoptotic genes are transcribed at the beginning of metamorphosis, but apoptosis intervenes after autophagy. To investigate the mechanisms that promote the activation of autophagy and apoptosis, we designed a set of experiments based on injections of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Our data demonstrate that autophagy is induced at the end of the last larval stage by the 20E commitment peak, while the onset of apoptosis occurs concomitantly with the 20E metamorphic peak. By impairing autophagic flux, the midgut epithelium degenerated faster, and higher caspase activity was observed compared to controls, whereas inhibiting caspase activation caused a severe delay in epithelial degeneration. Our data demonstrate that autophagy plays a pro-survival function in the silkworm midgut during metamorphosis, while apoptosis is the major process that drives the demise of the epithelium. The evidence collected in this study seems to exclude the occurrence of autophagic cell death in this setting.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera) Larval Midgut Response to BmNPV in Susceptible and Near-Isogenic Resistant Strains

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is one of the primary pathogens causing severe economic losses in sericulture. However, the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV remains largely unknown. Here, the recurrent parent P50 (susceptible strain) and the near-isogenic line BC9 (resistance strain) were used in a comparative transcriptome study examining the response to infection with BmNPV. A total of 14,300 unigenes were obtained from two different resistant strains; of these, 869 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after comparing the four transcriptomes. Many DEGs associated with protein metabolism, cytoskeleton, and apoptosis may be involved in the host response to BmNPV infection. Moreover, some immunity related genes were also altered following BmNPV infection. Specifically, after removing genetic background and individual immune stress response genes, 22 genes were found to be potentially involved in repressing BmNPV infection. These genes were related to transport, virus replication, intracellular innate immune, and apoptosis. Our study provided an overview of the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV infection and laid a foundation for controlling BmNPV in the future.

A hypothetical model of crossing Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus through its host midgut physical barrier

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is a primary pathogen of silkworm (B. mori) that causes severe economic losses each year. However, the molecular mechanisms of silkworm-BmNPV interactions, especially the silkworm proteins that can interact with the virus, are still largely unknown. In this study, the total and membrane proteins of silkworm midguts were displayed using one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. A virus overlay assay was used to detect B. mori proteins that specifically bind to BmNPV particles. Twelve proteins were located and identified using mass spectrometry, and the different expression of the corresponding genes in BmNPV susceptible and resistant silkworm strains also indicated their involvement in BmNPV infection. The 12 proteins are grouped based on their potential roles in viral infection, for example, endocytosis, intracellular transportation, and host responses. Based on these results, we hypothesize the following: I) vacuolar ATP synthase catalytic subunit A and subunit B may be implicated in the process of the membrane fusion of virus and the release of the nucleocapsid into cytoplasm; II) actin, enolase and phosphoglycerate kinase are cytoskeleton associated proteins and may play an important role in BmNPV intracellular transportation; III) mitochondrial prohibitin complex protein 2, ganglioside-induced differentiation-associated protein, calreticulin, regucalcin-like isoform X1 and 60 kDa heat shock protein are involved in cell apoptosis regulation during BmNPV infection in larvae midguts; IV) ribosomal P0 may be associated with BmNPV infection by regulating gene expression of BmNPV; V) arginine kinase has a role in the antiviral activities against BmNPV. Our work should prove informative by providing multiple protein targets and a novel direction to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the interactions between silkworms and BmNPV.