Abstract
BackgroundThe brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most serious rice plant pests in Asia. N. lugens causes extensive rice damage by sucking rice phloem sap, which results in stunted plant growth and the transmission of plant viruses. Despite the importance of this insect pest, little is known about the immunological mechanisms occurring in this hemimetabolous insect species.ResultsIn this study, we performed a genome- and transcriptome-wide analysis aiming at the immune-related genes. The transcriptome datasets include the N. lugens intestine, the developmental stage, wing formation, and sex-specific expression information that provided useful gene expression sequence data for the genome-wide analysis. As a result, we identified a large number of genes encoding N. lugens pattern recognition proteins, modulation proteins in the prophenoloxidase (proPO) activating cascade, immune effectors, and the signal transduction molecules involved in the immune pathways, including the Toll, Immune deficiency (Imd) and Janus kinase signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathways. The genome scale analysis revealed detailed information of the gene structure, distribution and transcription orientations in scaffolds. A comparison of the genome-available hemimetabolous and metabolous insect species indicate the differences in the immune-related gene constitution. We investigated the gene expression profiles with regards to how they responded to bacterial infections and tissue, as well as development and sex expression specificity.ConclusionsThe genome- and transcriptome-wide analysis of immune-related genes including pattern recognition and modulation molecules, immune effectors, and the signal transduction molecules involved in the immune pathways is an important step in determining the overall architecture and functional network of the immune components in N. lugens. Our findings provide the comprehensive gene sequence resource and expression profiles of the immune-related genes of N. lugens, which could facilitate the understanding of the innate immune mechanisms in the hemimetabolous insect species. These data give insight into clarifying the potential functional roles of the immune-related genes involved in the biological processes of development, reproduction, and virus transmission in N. lugens.
Highlights
The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most serious rice plant pests in Asia
N. lugens is rich in various symbiotic microorganisms, including an intracellular yeast-like symbiont (YLS) and four bacterial microbe phyla, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidete [2]
Peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP) was first isolated from hemolymph of the silkworm, as a pattern recognition receptor which binds peptidoglycan (PGN) and triggers prophenoloxidase activating cascade [8]
Summary
The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most serious rice plant pests in Asia. Despite the importance of this insect pest, little is known about the immunological mechanisms occurring in this hemimetabolous insect species. Little is known about the immune responses in hemimetabolous insects, despite the fact that their destruction of agricultural crops has become increasingly serious in recent years. The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), is the most destructive pest for rice throughout Asia. This insect causes extensive rice damage by sucking rice phloem sap and transmitting plant viruses. N. lugens is rich in various symbiotic microorganisms, including an intracellular yeast-like symbiont (YLS) and four bacterial microbe phyla, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidete [2]. An interesting question arises: how does this insect host maintain a good balance between the symbiotic microorganisms and foreign pathogens? N. lugens is expected to have a precise immune strategy for determining defense strategies against foreign microorganisms or tolerating microbial symbionts
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