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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2024, Vol. 23 Issue (11): 3801-3811    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.057
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Disruption of a microvitellogenin gene impairs eggshell formation in Mythimna separata

Lingling Li1*, Junhong Fu1, 2*, Changgeng Dai1, Yuhang Zhou1, Yang Hu1, Hongbo Li1, 3#

1 Institute of Plant Protection, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China

2 Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of the Mountainous Region, School of Agriculture, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China

3 Crop Genetic Resources and Germplasm Innovation in Karst Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guiyang 550006, China

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摘要  
Microvitellogenin (mVg) 隶属于鳞翅目特异性脂蛋白11超家族,被认为参与昆虫的生殖过程,但其确切的生物学功能不清楚。为此,本研究从重要粮食作物害虫粘虫Mythimna separata中鉴定了一个mVg基因,命名为MsmVgMsmVg具有一个1310 bp的开放阅读框,编码437个氨基酸。结构分析表明,MsmVg具有3个脂蛋白11超家族典型的结构域,包括1个N-端全α螺旋结构域 (NTD),1个恶臭假单胞菌同源结构域 (PPD) 和1个C-端全α折叠结构域 (CTD)。MsmVg在成熟雌虫中高表达,并在3日龄成虫的卵巢中显著富集。采用RNAi沉默MsmVg未改变雌虫脂肪体中MsmVgMsVgMsVgR的表达,但显著抑制了卵巢中3个基因的转录水平。表型分析结果表明,沉默MsmVg不影响卵巢中卵黄蛋白的沉积,而是损伤了卵壳的形成,从而导致生殖能力下降。此外,沉默MsmVg显著抑制了卵壳形成相关基因 (MsChP1-3 和MsFcP3C) 的表达。综上,这些发现表明MsmVg可通过影响卵壳的形成而参与粘虫雌虫的生殖过程。研究结果为该害虫的治理提供了一个潜在分子靶标。


Abstract  
Microvitellogenin (mVg) belongs to the lepidopteran-specific lipoprotein_11 super family and is thought to be involved in insect reproduction.  However, the function of mVg in reproduction has not been established.  In this study, we identified and characterized MsmVg in Mythimna separata, a destructive insect pest of grain crops.  MsmVg is comprised of a 1,310 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 437 amino acids.  Structural analysis showed that MsmVg contains three conserved domains in the lipoprotein_11 super family, including the all-α-N-terminal domain (NTD), a Pseudomonas putida homologous domain (PPD), and an all-β-C-terminal domain (CTD).  MsmVg was highly expressed in mature female adults and enriched in the ovaries of 3-day-old female adults.  Disruption of MsmVg by RNA interference did not change the expression of MsmVg, vitellogenin (MsVg) or the vitellogenin receptor (MsVgR) in fat bodies, but it inhibited their transcription in ovaries.  Phenotype analysis showed that knockdown of MsmVg did not affect yolk deposition in ovaries, but impaired eggshell formation and led to a reduction in the reproductive capacity.  Furthermore, knockdown of MsmVg significantly inhibited the expression of genes associated with eggshell formation (MsChP1-3 and MsFcP3C).  Taken together, these data suggest that MsmVg plays an important role in female reproduction by affecting eggshell formation in Mseparata, which provides a potential target for managing this insect pest.


Keywords:  microvitellogenin       Mythimna separata       reproduction       RNA interference  
Received: 17 November 2023   Accepted: 06 February 2024
Fund: 
This study was funded by the Science and Technology Program of Guizhou Province, China ([2020]IZ022), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32160641), the Science & Technology Support Program of Guizhou Province, China (2023–055), and the Training Program of Guizhou University, China ([2019]32 and [2019]45).
About author:  Lingling Li, E-mail: lilingling2019@163.com; Junhong Fu, E-mail: fujunhong231@sina.com; #Correspondence Hongbo Li, Tel: +86-851-83761712, E-mail: gzlhb2017@126.com * These authors contributed equally to this study.

Cite this article: 

Lingling Li, Junhong Fu, Changgeng Dai, Yuhang Zhou, Yang Hu, Hongbo Li. 2024. Disruption of a microvitellogenin gene impairs eggshell formation in Mythimna separata. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 23(11): 3801-3811.

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