Abstract

To reveal the mechanism of temperature preference in Tuta absoluta, one of the top 20 plant pests in the world, we cloned and identified TaTRPA1, TaPain, and TaPyx genes by RACE and bioinformatic analysis, and clarified their expression profiles during different development stages using real-time PCR, and revealed their function in preference temperature by RNAi. The full-length cDNA of TaPain was 3136 bp, with a 2865-bp open reading frame encoding a 259.89-kDa protein; and the partial length cDNA of TaPyx was 2326-bp, with a 2025-bp open reading frame encoding a 193.16-kDa protein. In addition, the expression of TaTRPA1 and TaPyx was significantly lower in larvae than other stages, and it was significantly higher in pupae and newly emerging males for TaPain. After feeding target double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), the preferred temperature decreased 2 °C more than the control group. In conclusion, the results firstly indicated the molecular characterization of TRPA subfamily genes and their key role in temperature perception in T. absoluta, and the study will help us to understand the temperature-sensing mechanism in the pest, and will provide some basis for study of other Lepidoptera insects’ temperature preference. Moreover, it is of great significance in enriching the research progress of “thermos TRP”.

Highlights

  • The South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) originated in South America, and has been one of the worst pests in South America since the 1950s and can reduce crop yields by 80–100% [1,2,3]

  • The open reading frame (ORF) encodes a polypeptide of 954 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 259.89 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.86 (Figure 1A)

  • The results indicated that TaTRPA1, TaPain, and TaPyx expressed at all the developmental stages tested (Figure 6)

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Summary

Introduction

The South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) originated in South America, and has been one of the worst pests in South America since the 1950s and can reduce crop yields by 80–100% [1,2,3]. It threatens crops in the nightshade family such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tobacco [4,5]. The successful invasion of the pest has posed a great threat to the tomato industry in Xinjiang and other places [5].

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