Abstract
The brown plant hopper is one of the most destructive known pests of rice. We studied the roles of the JH receptor Met and the downstream transcription factor Kr-h1 in ovariole development and egg maturation. The predicted Met protein in N. lugens (NlMet) contained 517 amino acids. qRT-PCR showed that NlMet was expressed in all tissues and that the highest expression occurred in the embryonic stage. In NlMet- or NlKr-h1-silenced female adults, ovarian development varied significantly, whereas the numbers of ovarioles were less variable in those injected with dsRNA targeting NlMet, NlKrh-1 or both NlMet and NlKr-h1. In females injected with dsNlKr-h1 or with dsNlMet in combination with dsNlKr-h1 dsRNA, the preoviposition period was prolonged, whereas the females injected with NlMet dsRNA showed no significant changes. Moreover, we found no differences in the length of the preoviposition period between macropterous and brachypterous females. The disruption of Nlmet or NlKr-h1 or the dual knockdown of NlMet and NlKr-h1 significantly reduced the number of eggs laid. Moreover, significant differences were also found between the macropterous and the brachypterous brown plant hoppers. These results indicated that Met and Kr-h1 are required for ovariole development and egg maturation in the brown plant hopper.
Highlights
The brown plant hopper Nilaparvata lugens Stål is dimorphic and is one of the most destructive known pests of rice
We examined the roles of the juvenile hormone (JH) receptor methoprene- tolerant (Met) and the downstream transcription factor Krüppel-homologue 1 (Kr-h1) and their interaction during ovariole development and egg maturation in the hemimetabolous brown plant hopper
N. lugens methoprene-tolerant (NlMet) was expressed in all developmental stages, which was consistent with previous studies in which Met played a role during development and had a physiological function in N. lugens
Summary
The brown plant hopper Nilaparvata lugens Stål is dimorphic and is one of the most destructive known pests of rice. The brown plant hopper feeds directly on rice tillers and causes the rice to turn yellow, which leads to “hopper burn” when the pest population is large. This pest transmits viruses, such as the virus causing grassy stunt disease and the rice stripe virus (RSV), which increase yield loss[3,4]. The brown plant hopper is dimorphic, and typically, the wings develop such that there are long-winged macropterous forms and short-winged brachypterous forms. The macropterous and brachypterous forms develop in similar proportions. In Aedes aegypti, Met is required for ovarian development[20] and egg production[7]. Similar induction was reported in Pyrrhocoris apterus[23], Bombyx mori[24,25], Drosophila melanogaster[26], Tribolium castaneum[27] and Aedes aegypti[10,28]
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