Early embryonic transcriptomes of Zeugodacus tau provide insight into sex determination and differentiation genes

Abstract

Zeugodacus tau (Walker) is an invasive pest. The sterile insect technique is an environment‐friendly method for pest control. Understanding the mechanism of sex determination will contribute to improving efficiency of this technique. In this study, we identified the transformer (tra) gene in Z. tau. One female‐specific and two male‐specific isoforms of tra were found in Z. tau, and the male‐specific splicing pattern of tra was found to occur 5 h after egg laying. We performed transcriptome sequencing at 1 h (E1), 5 h (E5), and 9 h (E9) after egg laying and obtained high‐quality transcriptome libraries of early embryo development. We identified 13 297 and 11 713 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from E5 versus E1 and E9 versus E1 comparisons, respectively. To explore the potential functions of the DEGs during embryonic development, Gene Ontology, Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were performed. Twenty‐six genes potentially involved in sex determination or differentiation, including Maleness‐on‐the‐Y (MoY), were identified in Z. tau. To verify the transcriptome results, 15 genes were selected for quantitative real‐time PCR validation. The results were consistent with the transcriptome sequencing results. Moreover, U2 small nuclear riboprotein auxiliary factor (U2AF‐50), female lethal d (fl(2)d), and virilizer (vir) were highly expressed at E5, indicating that they may be related to the sex‐specific splicing of tra. Further functional analysis is needed to confirm this speculation. Our data provide an insight into the mechanism underlying sex determination and differentiation in tephritid species.

Identification of testis development-related genes by combining Iso-Seq and RNA-Seq in Zeugodacus tau

“…The adults were reared on an artificial diet containing 50% yeast powder and 50% sucrose. Z. tau at various life stages was cultured at 27°C ± 1°C under a 12 light: 12 dark photoperiod in cages ( Liu et al, 2021 ).…”

Proteomics and Co-expression Network Analysis Reveal the Importance of Hub Proteins and Metabolic Pathways in Nicotine Synthesis and Accumulation in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

“…The Cluster of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COG) analysis was performed using the OmicShare tools. 2 The Fisher’s exact test was used for the GO functional enrichment analysis of DEPs ( Liu et al, 2021 ). The Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) 3 pathway of the target protein set was annotated using the KEGG Automatic Annotation Server (KAAS) ( Moriya et al, 2007 ; Kanehisa et al, 2012 ).…”

Insights on reproduction‐related genes in the striped fruit fly, Zeugodacus scutellata (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…Transcriptome analyses identified sex-determination genes and cascade models in insects and animals (Liu et al, 2022a). In general, transcriptome studies provide necessary and deep knowledge into previously unknown genes of a species, specific gene functions, expression mechanisms, and species evolution in many insects (Srivastava et al, 2019).…”

“…In general, transcriptome studies provide necessary and deep knowledge into previously unknown genes of a species, specific gene functions, expression mechanisms, and species evolution in many insects (Srivastava et al, 2019). Recent studies demonstrated the genes involved in fecundity and ageing of social insects (Korb et al, 2021), sex determination and differentiation in Zeugodacus tau (Liu et al, 2022a), and reproduction regulation in Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett), C. capitata (Wiedemann), and Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Wu et al, 2022; Zheng et al, 2012), but not in Z. scutellata . Investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the reproduction process is an effective tool for developing molecular level pest control strategies.…”