Carboxylesterases (CarEs) play key roles in metabolism of specific hormones and detoxification of dietary and environmental xenobiotics in insects. We sequenced and characterized CarE cDNAs putatively derived from two different genes named LmCesA1 and LmCesA2 from the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, one of the most important agricultural pests in the world. The full-length cDNAs of LmCesA1 (1892 bp) and LmCesA2 (1643 bp) encode 543 and 501 amino acid residues, respectively. The two deduced CarEs share a characteristic α/β-hydrolase structure, including a catalytic triad composed of Ser-Glu (Asp)-His and a consensus sequence GQSAG, which suggests that both CarEs are biologically active. Phylogenetic analysis grouped both LmCesA1 and LmCesA2 into clade A which has been suggested to be involved in dietary detoxification. Both transcripts were highly expressed in all the nymphal and adult stages, but only slightly expressed in eggs. Analyses of tissue-dependent expression and in situ hybridization revealed that both transcripts were primarily expressed in gastric caeca. RNA interference (RNAi) of LmCesA1 and LmCesA2 followed by a topical application of carbaryl or deltamethrin did not lead to a significantly increased mortality with either insecticide. However, RNAi of LmCesA1 and LmCesA2 increased insect mortalities by 20.9 and 14.5%, respectively, when chlorpyrifos was applied.These results suggest that these genes might not play a significantly role in detoxification of carbaryl and deltamethrin but are most likely to be involved in detoxification of chlorpyrifos in L. migratoria.3

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Carboxylesterases (CarEs) belong to a superfamily of metabolic enzymes encoded by a number of genes and are widely distributed in microbes, plants and animals including insects. These enzymes play important roles in detoxification of insecticides and other xenobiotics, degradation of pheromones, regulation of neurodevelopment, and control of animal development. In this study, we characterized a total of 39 full-length cDNAs putatively encoding different CarEs from the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, one of the most severe insect pests in many regions of the world, and evaluated the role of four CarE genes in insecticide detoxification. Our phylogenetic analysis grouped the 39 CarEs into five different clades including 20 CarEs in clade A, 3 in D, 13 in E, 1 in F and 2 in I. Four CarE genes (LmCesA3, LmCesA20, LmCesD1, LmCesE1), representing three different clades (A, D and E), were selected for further analyses. The transcripts of the four genes were detectable in all the developmental stages and tissues examined. LmCesA3 and LmCesE1 were mainly expressed in the fat bodies and Malpighian tubules, whereas LmCesA20 and LmCesD1 were predominately expressed in the muscles and hemolymph, respectively. The injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) synthesized from each of the four CarE genes followed by the bioassay with each of four insecticides (chlorpyrifos, malathion, carbaryl and deltamethrin) increased the nymphal mortalities by 37.2 and 28.4% in response to malathion after LmCesA20 and LmCesE1 were silenced, respectively. Thus, we proposed that both LmCesA20 and LmCesE1 played an important role in detoxification of malathion in the locust. These results are expected to help researchers reveal the characteristics of diverse CarEs and assess the risk of insecticide resistance conferred by CarEs in the locust and other insect species.