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Dai X, Kiuchi T, Zhou Y, Jia S, Xu Y, Katsuma S, Shimada T, Wang H. Horizontal Gene Transfer and Gene Duplication of β-Fructofuranosidase Confer Lepidopteran Insects Metabolic Benefits. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:2897-2914. [PMID: 33739418 PMCID: PMC8233494 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a potentially critical source of material for ecological adaptation and the evolution of novel genetic traits. However, reports on posttransfer duplication in organism genomes are lacking, and the evolutionary advantages conferred on the recipient are generally poorly understood. Sucrase plays an important role in insect physiological growth and development. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of insect β-fructofuranosidase transferred from bacteria via HGT. We found that posttransfer duplications of β-fructofuranosidase were widespread in Lepidoptera and sporadic occurrences of β-fructofuranosidase were found in Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. β-fructofuranosidase genes often undergo modifications, such as gene duplication, differential gene loss, and changes in mutation rates. Lepidopteran β-fructofuranosidase gene (SUC) clusters showed marked divergence in gene expression patterns and enzymatic properties in Bombyx mori (moth) and Papilio xuthus (butterfly). We generated SUC1 mutations in B. mori using CRISPR/Cas9 to thoroughly examine the physiological function of SUC. BmSUC1 mutant larvae were viable but displayed delayed growth and reduced sucrase activities that included susceptibility to the sugar mimic alkaloid found in high concentrations in mulberry. BmSUC1 served as a critical sucrase and supported metabolic homeostasis in the larval midgut and silk gland, suggesting that gene transfer of β-fructofuranosidase enhanced the digestive and metabolic adaptation of lepidopteran insects. These findings highlight not only the universal function of β-fructofuranosidase with a link to the maintenance of carbohydrate metabolism but also an underexplored function in the silk gland. This study expands our knowledge of posttransfer duplication and subsequent functional diversification in the adaptive evolution and lineage-specific adaptation of organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangping Dai
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Takashi Kiuchi
- Laboratory of Insect Genetics and Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yanyan Zhou
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shunze Jia
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yusong Xu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Susumu Katsuma
- Laboratory of Insect Genetics and Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toru Shimada
- Laboratory of Insect Genetics and Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Huabing Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Gao Y, Liu YC, Jia SZ, Liang YT, Tang Y, Xu YS, Kawasaki H, Wang HB. Imaginal disc growth factor maintains cuticle structure and controls melanization in the spot pattern formation of Bombyx mori. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1008980. [PMID: 32986708 PMCID: PMC7544146 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The complex stripes and patterns of insects play key roles in behavior and ecology. However, the fine-scale regulation mechanisms underlying pigment formation and morphological divergence remain largely unelucidated. Here we demonstrated that imaginal disc growth factor (IDGF) maintains cuticle structure and controls melanization in spot pattern formation of Bombyx mori. Moreover, our knockout experiments showed that IDGF is suggested to impact the expression levels of the ecdysone inducible transcription factor E75A and pleiotropic factors apt-like and Toll8/spz3, to further control the melanin metabolism. Furthermore, the untargeted metabolomics analyses revealed that BmIDGF significantly affected critical metabolites involved in phenylalanine, beta-alanine, purine, and tyrosine metabolism pathways. Our findings highlighted not only the universal function of IDGF to the maintenance of normal cuticle structure but also an underexplored space in the gene function affecting melanin formation. Therefore, this study furthers our understanding of insect pigment metabolism and melanin pattern polymorphisms. The diverse stripe patterns of animals are usually used for warning or camouflage. However, the actual mechanisms underlying diverse stripe pattern formation remains largely unknown. This study provides direct evidence that imaginal disc growth factor (IDGF) maintains cuticle structure and controls melanization in the spot pattern formation. Our exhaustive knockout experiments reveal that BmIDGF is involved in the melanin pigmentation of Bombyx mori. We demonstrate that IDGF impacts the expression levels of the 20E-inducible transcription factor E75A and pleiotropic factors apt-like and Toll8/spz3, to further affect the melanin metabolism. Furthermore, the metabolome of BmIDGF gene deletion connects metabolism to gene function. Thus, this study shed light on not only the unique function of IDGF but also the molecular mechanism of spot pattern formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Gao
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yun-Cai Liu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shun-Ze Jia
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yan-Ting Liang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu Tang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu-Song Xu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hideki Kawasaki
- Faculty of Agriculture, Takasaki University of Health and Welfare, Gunma, Japan
| | - Hua-Bing Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- * E-mail:
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Jia S, Li Y, Dai X, Li X, Zhou Y, Xu Y, Wang H. Physiological adaptations to sugar-mimic alkaloids: Insights from Bombyx mori for long-term adaption and short-term response. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:9682-9695. [PMID: 33005339 PMCID: PMC7520222 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects evolved adaptive plasticity to minimize the effects of the chemical defenses of their host plants. Nevertheless, the expressional response and adaptation of phytophagous specialists for long-term adaption and short-term response to host phytochemicals remains largely unexplored. The mulberry (Morus alba)-silkworm (Bombyx mori) interaction is an old and well-known model of plant-insect interaction. In this study, we examined the long-term adaption and short-term response of the mulberry-specialist silkworm to two sugar-mimic alkaloids in mulberry: the commonly encountered 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ) and occasionally encountered 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (D-AB1), respectively. Global transcriptional patterns revealed that the physiological responses induced by the selective expression of genes involved in manifold cellular processes, including detoxification networks, canonical digestion processes, target enzymes, and other fundamental physiological processes, were crucial for regulating metabolic homeostasis. Comparative network analysis of the effects of exposure to D-AB1 and 1-DNJ supported the contention that B. mori produced similar and specific trajectories of changed gene expression in response to different sugar-mimic alkaloids. D-AB1 elicited a substantial proportion of downregulated genes relating to carbohydrate metabolism, catabolic process, lipid metabolism, and glycan biosynthesis and metabolism. This study dramatically expands our knowledge of the physiological adaptations to dietary sugar-mimic alkaloid intake and uncovered both metabolic evolutionarily responses and unique adaptive mechanisms previously unknown in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shunze Jia
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Yinghui Li
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Xiangping Dai
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Xiaotong Li
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Yanyan Zhou
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Yusong Xu
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Huabing Wang
- College of Animal Sciences Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
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iTRAQ-Based Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Digestive Juice across the First 48 Hours of the Fifth Instar in Silkworm Larvae. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20246113. [PMID: 31817210 PMCID: PMC6940845 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20246113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 11/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The silkworm is an oligophagous insect for which mulberry leaves are the sole diet. The nutrients needed for vital activities of the egg, pupal, and adult stages, and the proteins formed in the cocoon, are all derived from the larval stages. The silkworm feeds and grows quickly during the larval stages. In particular, the amount of leaf ingested and digested quickly increases from the ecdysis to the gluttonous stage in the fifth instar period. In this study, we used the iTRAQ proteomic technique to identify and analyze silkworm larval digestive juice proteins during this period. A total of 227 proteins were successfully identified. These were primarily serine protease activity, esterase activity, binding, and serine protease inhibitors, which were mainly involved in the digestion and overcoming the detrimental effects of mulberry leaves. Moreover, 30 genes of the identified proteins were expressed specifically in the midgut. Temporal proteomic analysis of digestive juice revealed developmental dynamic features related to molecular mechanisms of the principal functions of digesting, resisting pathogens, and overruling the inhibitory effects of mulberry leaves protease inhibitors (PIs) with a dynamic strategy, although overruling the inhibitory effects has not yet been confirmed by previous study. These findings will help address the potential functions of digestive juice in silkworm larvae.
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Dai X, Li R, Li X, Liang Y, Gao Y, Xu Y, Shi L, Zhou Y, Wang H. Gene duplication and subsequent functional diversification of sucrose hydrolase in Papilio xuthus. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 28:862-872. [PMID: 31155808 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Sucrose is the main product of photosynthesis in plants, providing a rich carbon and energy source for the physiological growth and development of insects. In a previous study, we identified a novel sucrose hydrolase (SUH) in the larval midgut of moths. Intriguingly, there are two copies of Suh, namely Suh1 and Suh2, in several species of butterflies. However, the biochemical characteristics of SUHs in butterflies remain unclear. In this study, we found that this duplication and subsequent diversification produced two Suh genes in Papilio xuthus. These two PxSuh genes were significantly divergent in terms of their expression pattern and enzyme properties. PxSuh messenger RNA expression was highest during the larval stage, reduced in the prepupal and pupal stages and, for PxSuh1, slightly increased again in the adult. The observed levels of PxSuh2 were overall below those of PxSuh1 amongst the development stages examined. Compared with PxSUH2, which has maintained the original gene function of maltose hydrolysis, PxSUH1 exhibits substrate specificity for sucrose with an optimum enzyme activity occurring at an alkaline pH. The data show that PxSuh1 is evolutionarily adapted for effective functioning in an alkaline digestive system. Furthermore, we find that functional diversification of Suh facilitates P. xuthus to digestive carbohydrate of host plants. Thus, our findings offer new insights into the ecological and evolutionary adaptation of digestive enzymes in butterflies.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Dai
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - R Li
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - X Li
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Liang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Gao
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Xu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - L Shi
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Zhou
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - H Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Zhou Y, Li X, Katsuma S, Xu Y, Shi L, Shimada T, Wang H. Duplication and diversification of trehalase confers evolutionary advantages on lepidopteran insects. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:5282-5298. [PMID: 31674075 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Gene duplication provides a major source of new genes for evolutionary novelty and ecological adaptation. However, the maintenance of duplicated genes and their relevance to adaptive evolution has long been debated. Insect trehalase (Treh) plays key roles in energy metabolism, growth, and stress recovery. Here, we show that the duplication of Treh in Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is linked with their adaptation to various environmental stresses. Generally, two Treh genes are present in insects: Treh1 and Treh2. We report three distinct forms of Treh in lepidopteran insects, where Treh1 was duplicated into two gene clusters (Treh1a and Treh1b). These gene clusters differ in gene expression patterns, enzymatic properties, and subcellular localizations, suggesting that the enzymes probably underwent sub- and/or neofunctionalization in the lepidopteran insects. Interestingly, selective pressure analysis provided significant evidence of positive selection on duplicate Treh1b gene in lepidopteran insect lineages. Most positively selected sites were located in the alpha-helical region, and several sites were close to the trehalose binding and catalytic sites. Subcellular adaptation of duplicate Treh1b driven by positive selection appears to have occurred as a result of selected changes in specific sequences, allowing for rapid reprogramming of duplicated Treh during evolution. Our results suggest that gene duplication of Treh and subsequent functional diversification could increase the survival rate of lepidopteran insects through various regulations of intracellular trehalose levels, facilitating their adaptation to diverse habitats. This study provides evidence regarding the mechanism by which gene family expansion can contribute to species adaptation through gene duplication and subsequent functional diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyan Zhou
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaotong Li
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Susumu Katsuma
- Laboratory of Insect Genetics and Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yusong Xu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Liangen Shi
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Toru Shimada
- Laboratory of Insect Genetics and Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Huabing Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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