Characterization of two  Bursicon genes and their association with wing development in the brown citrus aphid, Aphis citricidus

In this study, we successfully identified theAcBurs- α andAcBurs- β genes inAphis citricidus. The open reading frames ofAcBurs- α andAcBurs- β were 480 and 417  bp in length, respectively. Both AcBurs-α and AcBurs-β exhibited 11 conserved cysteine residues.AcBurs- α andAcBurs- β were expressed during all developmental stages ofA. citricidus and showed high expression levels in the winged aphids. To investigate the potential role ofAcBurs- α andAcBurs- β in wing development, we employed RNA interference (RNAi) techniques. With the efficient silencing ofAcBurs- α (44.90%) andAcBurs- β (52.31%), malformed wings were induced in aphids. The proportions of malformed wings were 22.50%, 25.84%, and 38.34% in dsAcBurs- α-, dsAcBur- β-, and dsAcBurs- α + dsAcBur- β-treated groups, respectively. Moreover, feeding protein kinase A inhibitors (H-89) also increased the proportion of malformed wings to 30.00%. Feeding both double-stranded RNA and inhibitors (H-89) significantly downregulated the wing development-related genesnubbin,vestigial,notch andspalt major. Silence ofvestigial through RNAi also led to malformed wings. Meanwhile, the exogenous application of 3 hormones that influence wing development did not affect the expression level ofAcBursicon genes. These findings indicate thatAcBursicon genes plays a crucial role in wing development inA. citricidus; therefore, it represents a potential molecular target for the control of this pest through RNAi-based approaches.
Source: Insect Science - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research