Insect Molecular Biology最新文献

{"title":"Correction to: Rhythmic change of adipokinetic hormones diurnally regulates locust vitellogenesis and egg development","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/imb.12920","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12920","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Zheng, H., Chen, C., Liu, C., Song, Q. and Zhou, S. (2020) Rhythmic change of adipokinetic hormones diurnally regulates locust vitellogenesis and egg development. <i>Insect Molecular Biology</i>, 29, 283–292. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.12633</p><p>In the article by Zheng et al. (2020), an incorrect grant number was given in the Acknowledgments.</p><p>The correct text should be:</p><p>This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (U1804232 and 31630070) and the 111 project of China (D16014).</p><p>We apologize for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12920","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140876286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The composition and function of bacterial communities in Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) changed dramatically with infected fungi: A new potential to culture Cordyceps cicadae","authors":"Ye-Ming Zhou,&nbsp;Lin Duan,&nbsp;Li Luo,&nbsp;Jing-Qiang Guan,&nbsp;Zheng-Kai Yang,&nbsp;Jiao-Jiao Qu,&nbsp;Xiao Zou","doi":"10.1111/imb.12918","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12918","url":null,"abstract":"<p><i>Cordyceps cicadae</i> (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) is a renowned entomopathogenic fungus used as herbal medicine in China. However, wild <i>C. cicadae</i> resources have been threatened by heavy harvesting. We hypothesised that <i>Bombyx mori</i> L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) could be a new alternative to cultivate <i>C. cicadae</i> due to the low cost of rearing. Bacterial communities are crucial for the formation of <i>Cordyceps</i> and for promoting the production of metabolites. To better understand the bacterial community structure associated with <i>Cordyceps</i>, three Claviciptaceae fungi were used to explore the pathogenicity of the silkworms. Here, fifth-instar silkworms were infected with <i>C. cicadae</i>, <i>Cordyceps cateniannulata</i> (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) and <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae). Subsequently, we applied high-throughput sequencing to explore the composition of bacterial communities in silkworms. Our results showed that all three fungi were highly pathogenic to silkworms, which suggests that silkworms have the potential to cultivate <i>Cordyceps</i>. After fungal infection, the diversity of bacterial communities in silkworms decreased significantly, and the abundance of <i>Staphylococcus</i> increased in mummified larvae, which may play a role in the death process when the host suffers infection by entomopathogenic fungi. Furthermore, there were high similarities in the bacterial community composition and function in the <i>C. cicadae</i> and <i>C. cateniannulata</i> infected samples, and the phylogenetic analysis suggested that these similarities may be related to the fungal phylogenetic relationship. Our findings reveal that infection with different entomopathogenic fungi affects the composition and function of bacterial communities in silkworms and that the bacterial species associated with <i>Cordyceps</i> are primarily host dependent, while fungal infection affects bacterial abundance.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140862710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of Frankliniella occidentalis, the western flower thrips, via embryonic microinjection","authors":"Jinlong Han,&nbsp;William Klobasa,&nbsp;Lucas de Oliveira,&nbsp;Dorith Rotenberg,&nbsp;Anna E. Whitfield,&nbsp;Marcé D. Lorenzen","doi":"10.1111/imb.12913","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12913","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The western flower thrips, <i>Frankliniella occidentalis</i>, poses a significant challenge in global agriculture as a notorious pest and a vector of economically significant orthotospoviruses. However, the limited availability of genetic tools for <i>F. occidentalis</i> hampers the advancement of functional genomics and the development of innovative pest control strategies. In this study, we present a robust methodology for generating heritable mutations in <i>F. occidentalis</i> using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system. Two eye-colour genes, <i>white</i> (<i>Fo-w</i>) and <i>cinnabar</i> (<i>Fo-cn</i>), frequently used to assess Cas9 function in insects were identified in the <i>F. occidentalis</i> genome and targeted for knockout through embryonic microinjection of Cas9 complexed with <i>Fo-w</i> or <i>Fo-cn</i> specific guide RNAs. Homozygous <i>Fo-w</i> and <i>Fo-cn</i> knockout lines were established by crossing mutant females and males. The <i>Fo-w</i> knockout line revealed an age-dependent modification of eye-colour phenotype. Specifically, while young larvae exhibit orange-coloured eyes, the colour transitions to bright red as they age. Unexpectedly, loss of <i>Fo-w</i> function also altered body colour, with <i>Fo-w</i> mutants having a lighter coloured body than wild type, suggesting a dual role for <i>Fo-w</i> in thrips. In contrast, individuals from the <i>Fo-cn</i> knockout line consistently displayed bright red eyes throughout all life stages. Molecular analyses validated precise editing of both target genes. This study offers a powerful tool to investigate thrips gene function and paves the way for the development of genetic technologies for population suppression and/or population replacement as a means of mitigating virus transmission by this vector.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12913","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140810933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptome-wide analysis uncovers regulatory elements of the antennal transcriptome repertoire of bumblebee at different life stages","authors":"Fatih Dikmen,&nbsp;Tunç Dabak,&nbsp;Burcu Daşer Özgişi,&nbsp;Çiğdem Özenirler,&nbsp;Selim Can Kuralay,&nbsp;Selahattin Barış Çay,&nbsp;Yusuf Ulaş Çınar,&nbsp;Onur Obut,&nbsp;Mehmet Ali Balcı,&nbsp;Pınar Akbaba,&nbsp;Esma Gamze Aksel,&nbsp;Gökmen Zararsız,&nbsp;Edwin Solares,&nbsp;Vahap Eldem","doi":"10.1111/imb.12914","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12914","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bumblebees are crucial pollinators, providing essential ecosystem services and global food production. The success of pollination services relies on the interaction between sensory organs and the environment. The antenna functions as a versatile multi-sensory organ, pivotal in mediating chemosensory/olfactory information, and governs adaptive responses to environmental changes. Despite an increasing number of RNA-sequencing studies on insect antenna, comprehensive antennal transcriptome studies at the different life stages were not elucidated systematically. Here, we quantified the expression profile and dynamics of coding/microRNA genes of larval head and antennal tissues from early- and late-stage pupa to the adult of <i>Bombus terrestris</i> as suitable model organism among pollinators. We further performed Pearson correlation analyses on the gene expression profiles of the antennal transcriptome from larval head tissue to adult stages, exploring both positive and negative expression trends. The positively correlated coding genes were primarily enriched in sensory perception of chemical stimuli, ion transport, transmembrane transport processes and olfactory receptor activity. Negatively correlated genes were mainly enriched in organic substance biosynthesis and regulatory mechanisms underlying larval body patterning and the formation of juvenile antennal structures. As post-transcriptional regulators, miR-1000-5p, miR-13b-3p, miR-263-5p and miR-252-5p showed positive correlations, whereas miR-315-5p, miR-92b-3p, miR-137-3p, miR-11-3p and miR-10-3p exhibited negative correlations in antennal tissue. Notably, based on the inverse expression relationship, positively and negatively correlated microRNA (miRNA)–mRNA target pairs revealed that differentially expressed miRNAs predictively targeted genes involved in antennal development, shaping antennal structures and regulating antenna-specific functions. Our data serve as a foundation for understanding stage-specific antennal transcriptomes and large-scale comparative analysis of transcriptomes in different insects.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12914","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140810809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-CG DNA methylation marks the transition from pupa to adult in Helicoverpa armigera","authors":"Jack W. Royle,&nbsp;David Hurwood,&nbsp;Pawel Sadowski,&nbsp;Kevin J. Dudley","doi":"10.1111/imb.12917","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12917","url":null,"abstract":"<p>DNA methylation in insects is generally low in abundance, and its role is not well understood. It is often localised in protein coding regions and associated with the expression of ‘housekeeping’ genes. Few studies have explored DNA methylation dynamics during lifecycle stage transitions in holometabolous (metamorphosing) insects. Using targeted mass spectrometry, we have found a significant difference in global DNA methylation levels between larvae, pupae and adults of <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i> (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Hübner, a polyphagous pest of agricultural importance. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing confirmed these observations and pointed to non-CG context being the primary explanation for the difference observed between pupa and adult. Non-CG methylation was enriched in genes specific to various signalling pathways (Hippo signalling, Hedgehog signalling and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling) and ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling. Understanding the function of this epigenetic mark could be a target in future studies focusing on integrated pest management.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12917","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140653014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The expression of Catsup in the hindgut is essential for zinc homeostasis in Drosophila melanogaster","authors":"Li Jin,&nbsp;Xueke Tian,&nbsp;Xiaowen Ji,&nbsp;Guiran Xiao","doi":"10.1111/imb.12916","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12916","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Zinc excretion is crucial for zinc homeostasis. However, the mechanism of zinc excretion has not been well characterized. Zinc homeostasis in <i>Drosophila</i> seems well conserved to mammals. In this study, we screened all members of the zinc transporters ZnT (SLC30) and Zip (SLC39) for their potential roles in <i>Drosophila</i> hindgut, an insect organ that belongs to the excretory system. The results indicated that Catecholamines up (Catsup, CG10449), a ZIP member localized to the Golgi, is responsible for zinc homeostasis in the hindgut of <i>Drosophila</i> hindgut-specific knockdown of <i>Catsup</i> leads to a developmental arrest in the larval stage, which could be rescued well by human ZIP7. Further study suggested that <i>Catsup</i> RNAi in the hindgut reduced zinc levels in the excretory system (containing the Malpighian tubule and hindgut) but exhibited systemic zinc overload. Besides, more calculi were observed in the Malpighian tubules of <i>Catsup</i> RNAi flies. The developmental arrest and calculi in the Malpighian tubules of hindgut-specific <i>Catsup</i> RNAi flies could be rescued by dietary zinc restriction but hypersensitivity to zinc. These results will help us understand the fundamental process of zinc excretion in higher eukaryotes.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140656376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agricultural insect pests as models for studying stress-induced evolutionary processes","authors":"Joe C. Gunn,&nbsp;Blair M. Christensen,&nbsp;Erika M. Bueno,&nbsp;Zachary P. Cohen,&nbsp;Alexander S. Kissonergis,&nbsp;Yolanda H. Chen","doi":"10.1111/imb.12915","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12915","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Agricultural insect pests (AIPs) are widely successful in adapting to natural and anthropogenic stressors, repeatedly overcoming population bottlenecks and acquiring resistance to intensive management practices. Although they have been largely overlooked in evolutionary studies, AIPs are ideal systems for understanding rapid adaptation under novel environmental conditions. Researchers have identified several genomic mechanisms that likely contribute to adaptive stress responses, including positive selection on de novo mutations, polygenic selection on standing allelic variation and phenotypic plasticity (e.g., hormesis). However, new theory suggests that stress itself may induce epigenetic modifications, which may confer heritable physiological changes (i.e., stress-resistant phenotypes). In this perspective, we discuss how environmental stress from agricultural management generates the epigenetic and genetic modifications that are associated with rapid adaptation in AIPs. We summarise existing evidence for stress-induced evolutionary processes in the context of insecticide resistance. Ultimately, we propose that studying AIPs offers new opportunities and resources for advancing our knowledge of stress-induced evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12915","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140664663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uridine diphosphate glucosyltransferase is vital for fenpropathrin resistance in Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera)","authors":"Kai-yi Zheng,&nbsp;Xiao-ying Zhang,&nbsp;Fasihul Lisan,&nbsp;Wen-Qin Lai,&nbsp;Qiang Zhang,&nbsp;Jun-li Lv,&nbsp;Zhan-peng Lu,&nbsp;Sheng Qin,&nbsp;Xia Sun,&nbsp;Shang-zhi Zhang,&nbsp;Xue-yang Wang,&nbsp;Li-shang Dai,&nbsp;Mu-wang Li","doi":"10.1111/imb.12912","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12912","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The silkworm (<i>Bombyx mori</i>) is an important model lepidopteran insect and can be used to identify pesticide resistance-related genes of great significance for biological control of pests. Uridine diphosphate glucosyltransferases (UGTs), found in all organisms, are the main secondary enzymes involved in the metabolism of heterologous substances. However, it remains uncertain if silkworm resistance to fenpropathrin involves UGT. This study observes significant variations in <i>BmUGT</i> expression among <i>B. mori</i> strains with variable fenpropathrin resistance post-feeding, indicating <i>BmUGT</i>'s role in fenpropathrin detoxification. Knockdown of <i>BmUGT</i> with RNA interference and overexpression of <i>BmUGT</i> significantly decreased and increased BmN cell activity, respectively, indicating that <i>BmUGT</i> plays an important role in the resistance of silkworms to fenpropathrin. In addition, fenpropathrin residues were significantly reduced after incubation for 12 h with different concentrations of a recombinant BmUGT fusion protein. Finally, we verified the conservation of UGT to detoxify fenpropathrin in <i>Spodoptera exigua</i>: Its resistance to fenpropathrin decreased significantly after knocking down <i>SeUGT</i>. In a word, UGT plays an important role in silkworm resistance to fenpropathrin by directly degrading the compound, a function seen across other insects. The results of this study are of great significance for breeding silkworm varieties with high resistance and for biological control of pests.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140571355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"RNAi-mediated knockdown of exportin 1 negatively affected ovary development, survival and maize mosaic virus accumulation in its insect vector Peregrinus maidis","authors":"Cesar A. D. Xavier,&nbsp;Clara Tyson,&nbsp;Leo M. Kerner,&nbsp;Anna E. Whitfield","doi":"10.1111/imb.12910","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12910","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Exportin 1 (XPO1) is the major karyopherin-β nuclear receptor mediating the nuclear export of hundreds of proteins and some classes of RNA and regulates several critical processes in the cell, including cell-cycle progression, transcription and translation. Viruses have co-opted XPO1 to promote nucleocytoplasmic transport of viral proteins and RNA. Maize mosaic virus (MMV) is a plant-infecting rhabdovirus transmitted in a circulative propagative manner by the corn planthopper, <i>Peregrinus maidis</i>. MMV replicates in the nucleus of plant and insect hosts, and it remains unknown whether MMV co-opts <i>P. maidis XPO1</i> (<i>PmXPO1</i>) to complete its life cycle. Because XPO1 plays multiple regulatory roles in cell functions and virus infection, we hypothesized that RNAi-mediated silencing of <i>XPO1</i> would negatively affect MMV accumulation and insect physiology. Although <i>PmXPO1</i> expression was not modulated during MMV infection, <i>PmXPO1</i> knockdown negatively affected MMV accumulation in <i>P. maidis</i> at 12 and 15 days after microinjection. Likewise, <i>PmXPO1</i> knockdown negatively affected <i>P. maidis</i> survival and reproduction. <i>PmXPO1</i> exhibited tissue-specific expression patterns with higher expression in the ovaries compared with the guts of adult females. Survival rate was significantly lower for <i>PmXPO1</i> knockdown females, compared with controls, but no effect was observed for males. <i>PmXPO1</i> knockdown experiments revealed a role for <i>PmXPO1</i> in ovary function and egg production. Oviposition and egg hatch on plants were dramatically reduced in females treated with dsRNA <i>PmXPO1</i>. These results suggest that <i>PmXPO1</i> is a positive regulator of <i>P. maidis</i> reproduction and that it plays a proviral role in the insect vector supporting MMV infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/imb.12910","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140318192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SfREPAT38, a pathogen response gene (REPAT), is involved in immune response of Spodoptera frugiperda larvae through mediating Toll signalling pathway","authors":"Yuxue Wang,&nbsp;Natasha Isabel Tanatsiwa Mbiza,&nbsp;Ting Liu,&nbsp;Yi Wang,&nbsp;Yi Zhang,&nbsp;Xincheng Luo,&nbsp;Longyan Chu,&nbsp;Jianping Li,&nbsp;Yazhen Yang,&nbsp;Xiangping Wang,&nbsp;Jianmin Zhang,&nbsp;Yonghao Yu","doi":"10.1111/imb.12909","DOIUrl":"10.1111/imb.12909","url":null,"abstract":"<p>REPAT (response to pathogen) is an immune-associated gene family that plays important roles in insect immune response to pathogens. Although nine REPAT genes have been identified in <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i> (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) currently, their functions and mechanisms in the immune response to pathogens still remain unclear. Therefore, <i>SfREPAT38</i>, a pathogen response gene (REPAT) of <i>S. frugiperda</i>, was characterised and its function was analysed. The results showed that <i>SfREPAT38</i> contains a signal peptide and a transcription activator MBF2 (multi-protein bridging factor 2) domain. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that <i>SfREPAT38</i> was highly expressed in the sixth-instar larvae (L6) and was the highest in expression in the midgut of L6. We found that the expression of <i>SfREPAT38</i> could be activated by challenge with four microbial pathogens (<i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i>, <i>Metarhizium anisopliae</i>, <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> nuclearpolyhedrosis and <i>Escherichia coli</i>), except 12 h after <i>E. coli</i> infection. Furthermore, the <i>SfREPAT38</i> expression levels significantly decreased at 24, 48 and 72 h after <i>SfREPAT38</i> dsRNA injection or feeding. Feeding with <i>SfREPAT38</i> dsRNA significantly decreased the weight gain of <i>S. frugiperda</i>, and continuous feeding led to the death of <i>S. frugiperda</i> larvae from the fourth day. Moreover, <i>SfREPAT3</i>8 dsRNA injection resulted in a significant decrease of weight gain on the fifth day. Silencing <i>SfREPAT38</i> gene down-regulated the expression levels of immune genes belonging to the Toll pathway, including <i>SPZ</i>, <i>Myd88</i>, <i>DIF</i>, <i>Cactus</i>, <i>Pell</i> and <i>Toll18W.</i> After treatment with <i>SfREPAT3</i>8 dsRNA, <i>S. frugiperda</i> became extremely sensitive to the <i>B. thuringiensis</i> infection, and the survival rate dramatically increased, with 100% mortality by the eighth day. The weight of <i>S. frugiperda</i> larvae was also significantly lower than that of the control groups from the second day onwards. In addition, the genes involved in the Toll signalling pathway and a few antibacterial peptide related genes were down-regulated after treatment. These results showed that <i>SfREPAT38</i> is involved in the immune response of <i>S. frugiperda</i> larvae through mediating Toll signalling pathway.</p>","PeriodicalId":13526,"journal":{"name":"Insect Molecular Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140318204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}