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Peng X, Khan Z, Liu XM, Deng SL, Fang YG, Zhang M, Su XH, Xing LX, Yan XR. Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites. INSECTS 2023; 14:640. [PMID: 37504646 PMCID: PMC10380263 DOI: 10.3390/insects14070640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Worldwide, termites are one of few social insects. In this research, the stages of embryonic development in the parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of Reticulitermes aculabialis and R. flaviceps were observed and described. In R. flaviceps, the egg development of the FF and FM groups happened during the early phases of development, whereas in R. aculabialis, this appeared mainly during the late phase of development. The variance in the number of micropyles between the R. flaviceps FF colony type and the R. aculabialis FF colony type was statistically significant. Five stages of egg development were found in both types of R. aculabialis but only the sexual eggs of R. flaviceps. In R. flaviceps, 86% of the parthenogenetic eggs stopped growing during the blastoderm development, with the yolk cell assembling frequently in the center of the egg. According to the results of the single-cell transcriptome sequencing, we investigated the egg-to-larval expression level of genes (pka, map2k1, mapk1/3, hgk, mkp, and pax6) and indicated that the levels of essential gene expression in RaFF were considerably higher than in RfFF (p < 0.05). We also discovered that the oocyte cleavage rate in the FF colony type was considerably lower in R. flaviceps compared to R. aculabialis, which gave rise to a smaller number of mature oocytes in R. flaviceps. During ovulation in both species, oocytes underwent activation and one or two cleavage events, but the development of unfertilized eggs ceased in R. flaviceps. It was shown that termite oocyte and embryonic development were heavily influenced by genes with significant expressions. Results from the databases KEGG, COG, and GO unigenes revealed the control of numerous biological processes. This study is the first to complete a database of parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of R. flaviceps and R. aculabialis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Peng
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
| | - Zahid Khan
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
- Zoology Department, University of Swabi, Swabi 23561, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Xiao-Min Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
| | - Shi-Lin Deng
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
| | - Yong-Gang Fang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
| | - Min Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
| | - Xiao-Hong Su
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
- Xi’an Brand of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710043, China
| | - Lian-Xi Xing
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
- Xi’an Brand of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710043, China
| | - Xing-Rong Yan
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China; (X.P.); (Z.K.); (X.-M.L.); (S.-L.D.); (Y.-G.F.); (M.Z.); (X.-H.S.)
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
- Xi’an Brand of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710043, China
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Sun YX, Hao YN, Liu CZ, Wang SS. Investigating reproductive success of the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis from the perspective of micropyle variation. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12742. [PMID: 31484970 PMCID: PMC6726646 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49249-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Micropyles in insects are small openings that allow sperm entry into, and the number was usually decreased on unfertilized and (or) undeveloped eggs. However, reports showed that Harmonia axyridis, a reproductive success model, deposited similar number of micropyles on undeveloped and developing eggs. Thus, it was confusing whether micropyles in H. axyridis were unaffected. To solve this confusion, two experiments were conducted here. Firstly, virgin female and four different days delayed mating (DDM) experiments were conducted to reveal the effects of fertilization stimulus and delayed-fertilization. Secondly, intercrosses between a light-colored mutant (HAM, an adaptive deficiency) and wild type (HAW) were conducted to further reveal whether there were female and male interactions. We found that (1) eggs produced by virgin and DDM females had significantly less micropyles than control. Even so, more than 18 micropyles were observed on eggs following fertilization and, consequently, egg production as well as hatch rate was not negatively affected by mating delay; (2) number of micropyles was significantly varied among the four reciprocal crosses and virgin HAW female. Specifically, the heterozygous eggs (Cross-D) and wild-type homozygous eggs (Cross-B) respectively had the least and maximum micropyles, and eggs from virgin HAW female had significantly less micropyles compared to those from HAW female (Cross-B or Cross-C), but the number was significantly higher than those from HAM female (Cross-A or Cross-D). These results informed us that the number of micropyles in H. axyridis is plastic but maintaining a high-quantity that offers many benefits, which should contribute to its reproduction success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan-Xing Sun
- College of Plant Protection, Gansu Agricultural University/Biocontrol Engineering Laboratory of Crop Diseases and Pests of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China.
| | - Ya-Nan Hao
- College of Plant Protection, Gansu Agricultural University/Biocontrol Engineering Laboratory of Crop Diseases and Pests of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China
| | - Chang-Zhong Liu
- College of Plant Protection, Gansu Agricultural University/Biocontrol Engineering Laboratory of Crop Diseases and Pests of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China
| | - Sen-Shan Wang
- College of Plant Protection, Gansu Agricultural University/Biocontrol Engineering Laboratory of Crop Diseases and Pests of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China
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