Abstract
Although the general pathway of sex pheromone synthesis in moth species has been established, the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. The common cutworm Spodoptera litura is an important agricultural pest worldwide and causes huge economic losses annually. The female sex pheromone of S. litura comprises Z9,E11-14:OAc, Z9,E12-14:OAc, Z9-14:OAc, and E11-14:OAc. By sequencing and analyzing the transcriptomic data of the sex pheromone glands, we identified 94 candidate genes related to pheromone biosynthesis (55 genes) or chemoreception (39 genes). Gene expression patterns and phylogenetic analysis revealed that two desaturase genes (SlitDes5 and SlitDes11) and one fatty acyl reductase gene (SlitFAR3) showed pheromone gland (PG) biased or specific expression, and clustered with genes known to be involved in pheromone synthesis in other moth species. Furthermore, 4 chemoreception related genes (SlitOBP6, SlitOBP11, SlitCSP3, and SlitCSP14) also showed higher expression in the PG, and could be additional candidate genes involved in sex pheromone transport. This study provides the first solid background information that should facilitate further elucidation of sex pheromone biosynthesis and transport, and indicates potential targets to disrupt sexual communication in S. litura for a novel pest management strategy.
Highlights
Species-specific sex pheromone-elicited behaviors play a key role in sexual communication and reproduction in most moth species, which serve as a good model to study reproductive isolation in animals, from insects to mammals [1,2,3]
We carried out a next-generation sequencing analysis using a cDNA library constructed from the female pheromone gland (PG) of S. litura using the Illumina HiSeq(TM) 2500 platform
By homology analysis using the reported genes of other moth species in NCBI as queries [31,32,33,34,35,36], we identified a total of 94 transcripts that belong to gene families that are putatively involved in sex pheromone biosynthesis and transport, including 12 Des, 13 fatty acid reductases (FARs), 23 ACT, 2 acylCoaA-binding proteins (ACBPs), 4 fatty acid transport proteins (FATPs), 1 AcetylCoA Carboxylase (ACC), 25 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), and 14 Chemosensory Protein (CSP) genes
Summary
Species-specific sex pheromone-elicited behaviors play a key role in sexual communication and reproduction in most moth species, which serve as a good model to study reproductive isolation in animals, from insects to mammals [1,2,3]. Sex pheromone biosynthesis in moths begins with a palmitic or stearic acid moiety that is synthesized de novo in the PG through modifications of the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway [8]. Des proteins are the most intensively studied class of enzymes involved in moth sex pheromone biosynthesis, which can introduce double bonds into pheromone precursors. FATPs and ACBPs have been functionally identified to play roles in the production of the B. mori sex pheromone bombykol based on in vivo RNA interference methods [21, 22]. Some other important enzymes that have not been functionally confirmed are postulated to be involved in the sex pheromone biosynthesis pathway. The results indicated that some of these genes might play crucial roles in the biosynthesis and transport of S. litura sex pheromones and could be as candidates for further functional studies
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