Enhancement of the geomagnetic field reduces the phototaxis of rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens associated with frataxin down ‐regulation

In this study, the phototaxis of the migratory insect rice planthopperNilaparvata lugens (N.lugens) and frataxin inN. lugens (Nl ‐fh), which is a mitochondrial protein required for cellular iron homeostasis and iron ‐sulfur cluster assembly, were investigated by using different intensities of magnetic field. From the results, individuals ofN. lugens showed decreased phototaxis when reared and tested in a behavioral arena under a strong magnetic field. Besides the reduction in performance, an accompanying effect of the strong magnetic field condition was a reduced level ofNl ‐fh‐messenger RNA, and aNl ‐fh knockdown indeed impaired the phototactic behavior in a tested sample of insects. This leads to the conclusion that the expression of frataxin is dependent on the strength of the surrounding magnetic field and that functional frataxin facilitates phototactic behavior inN. lugens.
Source: Insect Science - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research