Cuticular protein LmTwdl1 is involved in molt development of the migratory locust

Abstract

The cuticle, an essential structure for insects, is produced from cuticular proteins and chitin via a series of biochemical reactions. Tweedle genes are important members of the cuticular protein family and have four conserved motifs binding to chitin. Tweedle family genes have been found to play a profound effect on cuticle development. Here, we report that the cuticular protein gene LmTwdl1 of Locusta migratoria belongs to the Tweedle family. In situ hybridization showed that LmTwdl1 is localized to epidermal cells of the cuticle. The expression patterns of LmTwdl1 showed low expression in the cuticle during the early and middle stages of the fifth-instar nymphs; in contrast, its expression rapidly increased in the late stages of fifth-instar nymphs. We performed RNA interference to examine the function of LmTwdl1 in locusts. Silencing of LmTwdl1 resulted in high mortality during the molting process before the next stage. Also, the epicuticle of nymphs failed to molt, tended to be thinner and the arrangement of chitin in the procuticle appeared to be disordered compare to the control group. These results demonstrate that LmTwdl1 plays a critical role in molting, which contributes to a better understanding of the distinct functions of the Tweedle family in locusts.

Composition and emission dynamics of migratory locust volatiles in response to changes in developmental stages and population density

“…The achievements in locust genome (Wang et al ., ), transcriptomes (Wang & Kang, ) and RNAi techniques (Ma et al ., ; Guo et al ., ; Wang & Kang, ) provide powerful tools to determine the molecular mechanisms of locust pheromone productions. Moreover, their functions were established by manipulating the expression levels of related genes in the biosynthetic pathways (Li et al ., ; Song et al ., ). Related discoveries will be useful in developing environment‐friendly behavioral regulators for locust management.…”

Nuclear receptor hormone receptor 39 is required for locust moulting by regulating the chitinase and carboxypeptidase genes

“…The same samples were prepared from day 8 to day 9 of fifth‐instar nymphs (N5D8 to N5D9) that were treated with LmHR39 , and then fixed with 4% glutaraldehyde for paraffin embedding as described previously (Liu et al ., ). In brief, paraffin sections (5 µm) of the abdominal cuticle and wing pad were prepared and stained with H&E (Song et al ., ). The slides were viewed under an Olympus BX51 microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) and photographed using an Olympus digital camera.…”

Evaluation of a cuticle protein gene as a potential RNAi target in aphids

“…CPAPs have diverse functions in different developmental aspects in Tribolium castaneum. 18 Silencing of the Tweedle 1 gene resulted in high mortality during the molting process in Locusta migratoria, 19 and RNAi of the CPG family gene, BmCPG10, delayed molting of Bombyx mori. 20 To identify RNAi targeted genes that could be potentially applied in various aphid species control, our group screened several gene families (including CPs) by sequence similarity.…”