Abstract
BackgroundThe growth and development of insects is strictly dependent on the precise regulation of chitin synthase (CHS), which is absent in vertebrates and plants. Therefore, CHS represents an attractive target for insecticides. At present, the research on the CHS gene in mosquitoes, especially its biological functions, remains limited.ResultsThe full-length cDNA of the chitin synthase B gene in Culex pipiens pallens (CpCHSB) was prepared and consists of 5158 nucleotides with an open reading frame (ORF) of 4722 nucleotides encoding a protein of 1573 amino acid residues. Among different tissues, CpCHSB gene is mainly expressed in the midgut tissue with the highest expression in adult mosquitoes. Knockdown of CpCHSB in the larval stage significantly lowered the chitin content (16.5%) decreased body size (reduced by 25.6% in the larval stage and by 25.6% in the adult stage), and diminished reproduction (20%). Injecting siCHSB into adult mosquito mainly decreased reproduction (27%).ConclusionsCpCHSB plays essential roles in growth and development, by severely reducing larval chitin content, midgut permeability, and reducing the number of female mosquito offspring. These results indicate that CHSB may serve as a potential novel target for exploring biosafe insecticides.
Highlights
The growth and development of insects is strictly dependent on the precise regulation of chitin synthase (CHS), which is absent in vertebrates and plants
We evaluated ovarian development in female mosquitoes at 72 h postblood meal (PBM), and found that the ovary was reduced in volume, the number of follicles had declined (by 26.4%, t(18) = 5.414, P < 0.0001) (Fig. 5d), and fewer eggs were deposited (reduced by 27%, t(18) = 4.482, P < 0.0001) in the silencing the CpCHSB gene (siCHSB) group compared with the negative control (NC) group (Fig. 5e, Additional file 4: Figure S2)
Benzoylurea derivatives have detrimental effects on some beneficial species, such as bees, aquatic organisms and natural predators, when administered by dispersion, which led to a ban on Conclusions We obtained the full-length cDNA encoding CpCHSB from C. pipiens pallens, which was mainly expressed in the midgut, and was more highly expressed in adult mosquitoes than in larvae
Summary
The growth and development of insects is strictly dependent on the precise regulation of chitin synthase (CHS), which is absent in vertebrates and plants. Of the 80 countries in which malaria is endemic that provided data for 2010– 2017, 68 have reported resistance to at least one class of insecticide, and 57 of those reported resistance to two or Chitin, a linear polymer of β-(1,4)-N-acetyl-dglucosamine (GlcNAc), is the second most abundant natural polysaccharide after cellulose [8]. It is widely distributed in arthropods, nematodes and fungi, but is absent in vertebrates and plants. Chitin functions as a scaffold material and plays an important role in protecting insects against external invasion and the abrasion of food [10]
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