Abstract
BackgroundHost and parasitoid interaction is one of the most fascinating relationships of insects, which is currently receiving an increasing interest. Understanding the mechanisms evolved by the parasitoids to evade or suppress the host immune system is important for dissecting this interaction, while it was still poorly known. In order to gain insight into the immune response of Tenebrio molitor to parasitization by Scleroderma guani, the transcriptome of T. molitor pupae was sequenced with focus on immune-related gene, and the non-parasitized and parasitized T. molitor pupae were analyzed by digital gene expression (DGE) analysis with special emphasis on parasitoid-induced immune-related genes using Illumina sequencing.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn a single run, 264,698 raw reads were obtained. De novo assembly generated 71,514 unigenes with mean length of 424 bp. Of those unigenes, 37,373 (52.26%) showed similarity to the known proteins in the NCBI nr database. Via analysis of the transcriptome data in depth, 430 unigenes related to immunity were identified. DGE analysis revealed that parasitization by S. guani had considerable impacts on the transcriptome profile of T. molitor pupae, as indicated by the significant up- or down-regulation of 3,431 parasitism-responsive transcripts. The expression of a total of 74 unigenes involved in immune response of T. molitor was significantly altered after parasitization.Conclusions/Significanceobtained T. molitor transcriptome, in addition to establishing a fundamental resource for further research on functional genomics, has allowed the discovery of a large group of immune genes that might provide a meaningful framework to better understand the immune response in this species and other beetles. The DGE profiling data provides comprehensive T. molitor immune gene expression information at the transcriptional level following parasitization, and sheds valuable light on the molecular understanding of the host-parasitoid interaction.
Highlights
Multicellular animals are continually exposed to foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans as well as various metazoan parasites and parasitoids
The immune system of insects can be divided into two categories: (i) humoral defense, including the antimicrobial peptides, reactive intermediates of oxygen or nitrogen, melanin formation and clotting; and (ii) cellular defense mainly based on haemocytes, such as phagocytosis, encapsulation, microaggregation and nodulation [4,5,6]
Most unigenes were shorter than 500 bp, and only near 25% of them were longer than 500 bp, which is similar to that obtained in previous transcriptome analyses in different insects using Illumina platform [25,26]
Summary
Multicellular animals are continually exposed to foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans as well as various metazoan parasites and parasitoids. In order to defend themselves against invaders, they have evolved two effective immune systems known as acquired and innate immunity. The acquired immune system relies on the generation of random and highly diverse repertoires of antigens that allow organisms to develop an immunological memory, whereas the innate immune system uses germline encoded factors to recognize and kill foreign invaders [1,2]. Vertebrates possess both acquired and innate immunity. In order to gain insight into the immune response of Tenebrio molitor to parasitization by Scleroderma guani, the transcriptome of T. molitor pupae was sequenced with focus on immune-related gene, and the non-parasitized and parasitized T. molitor pupae were analyzed by digital gene expression (DGE) analysis with special emphasis on parasitoid-induced immune-related genes using Illumina sequencing
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