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Xu G, Yi Y, Lyu H, Gong C, Feng Q, Song Q, Peng X, Liu L, Zheng S. DNA methylation suppresses chitin degradation and promotes the wing development by inhibiting Bmara-mediated chitinase expression in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Epigenetics Chromatin 2020; 13:34. [PMID: 32887667 PMCID: PMC7472703 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-020-00356-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation, as an essential epigenetic modification found in mammals and plants, has been implicated to play an important role in insect reproduction. However, the functional role and the regulatory mechanism of DNA methylation during insect organ or tissue development are far from being clear. RESULTS Here, we found that DNA methylation inhibitor (5-aza-dC) treatment in newly molted pupae decreased the chitin content of pupal wing discs and adult wings and resulted in wing deformity of Bombyx mori. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the up-regulation of chitinase 10 (BmCHT10) gene might be related to the decrease of chitin content induced by 5-aza-dC treatment. Further, the luciferase activity assays demonstrated that DNA methylation suppressed the promoter activity of BmCHT10 by down-regulating the transcription factor, homeobox protein araucan (Bmara). Electrophoretic mobility shift assay, DNA pull-down and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated that Bmara directly bound to the BmCHT10 promoter. Therefore, DNA methylation is involved in keeping the structural integrity of the silkworm wings from unwanted chitin degradation, as a consequence, it promotes the wing development of B. mori. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals that DNA methylation plays an important role in the wing development of B. mori. Our results support that the indirect transcriptional repression of a chitin degradation-related gene BmCHT10 by DNA methylation is necessary to keep the proper wing development in B. mori.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guanfeng Xu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yangqin Yi
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Hao Lyu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Chengcheng Gong
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Qili Feng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Qisheng Song
- Division of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Xuezhen Peng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Lin Liu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Sichun Zheng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental Biology and Applied Technology, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China. .,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Applied Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
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Salvemini M, Polito C, Saccone G. Fruitless alternative splicing and sex behaviour in insects: an ancient and unforgettable love story? J Genet 2011; 89:287-99. [PMID: 20876995 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-010-0040-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Courtship behaviours are common features of animal species that reproduce sexually. Typically, males are involved in courting females. Insects display an astonishing variety of courtship strategies primarily based on innate stereotyped responses to various external stimuli. In Drosophila melanogaster, male courtship requires proteins encoded by the fruitless (fru) gene that are produced in different sex-specific isoforms via alternative splicing. Drosophila mutant flies with loss-of-function alleles of the fru gene exhibit blocked male courtship behaviour. However, various individual steps in the courtship ritual are disrupted in fly strains carrying different fru alleles. These findings suggest that fru is required for specific steps in courtship. In distantly related insect species, various fru paralogues were isolated, which shows conservation of sex-specific alternative splicing and protein expression in neural tissues and suggests an evolutionary functional conservation of fru in the control of male-specific courtship behaviour. In this review, we report the seminal findings regarding the fru gene, its splicing regulation and evolution in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Salvemini
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80134, Naples, Italy
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