Insights into the venom protein components of the egg parasitoid Anastatus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Parasitoid venom is composed of a complex mixture of various active substances with different biological functions and is injected in the host during the parasitoid oviposition. Anastatus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) is an egg parasite of Tessaratoma papillosa (Hemiptera: Tessaratomidae). Although the venom of this egg parasitoid plays an important role in the parasitic process, relatively little work has been done to address the mechanism.RESULTS: In the present study, proteomic analysis was performed to identify the proteins that play an important role in the parasitic process of A. japonicus. A total of 2084 proteins were identified, including 81 putative venom proteins, most of which were identified as Hexamerin, Chitinase 2, Calreticulin, Heat shock protein 83-like, Serine protease, Arginine kinase, Phosphoserine aminotransferase and Actin protein. Together the before (Be) and after (Af) parasitization venom contains 1628 proteins, including 212 DEPs with 181 and 31 significantly up-regulated and down-regulated respectively. In addition, 10 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) with fold change ≥8.71 were subjected to RT-qPCR to validate the proteomic data. The differential expression analysis revealed that nine proteins were specifically present in the pre-parasitic venom, whereas 26 proteins were specific to the post-parasitic treatments. Results of RT-qPCR analysis showed high expression of the selected DEPs which further validated our proteomics data. CONCLUSION: These new proteomic data greatly enrich our current knowledge about key venom proteins associated with parasitic process in A. japonicus and contribute to better understanding of the parasitic mechanisms leading to the development of new biological control strategies.

Comparative Analysis of the Venom Proteins from Two Eupelmid Egg Parasitoids Anastatus japonicus and Mesocomys trabalae

“…M. trabalae does not parasitize Hemiptera insects, but it is the dominant species parasitizing C. japonica eggs in the natural field [33]. It has been reported that A. japonicus has no parasitic factors other than the venom received in the reproductive organs [34]. Its venom gland is similar to that of the endoparasitic wasp Pteromalus puparum (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) [35], and the venom of P. puparum has been reported to cause significant changes in the total number of host blood cells, disrupt the cytoskeleton, alter the behavior of blood cells such as stretching, adsorption, and aggregation, and affect the cystic host response to parasitoid eggs, thereby suppressing host cellular immunity [36].…”

miRNA‐34 and miRNA‐210 target hexamerin genes enhancing their differential expression during early brain development of honeybee (Apis mellifera) castes

“…Hexamerins may also bind to natural organic compounds such as riboflavin (vitamin B2) (Magee et al, 1994), ecdysteroids (Enderle et al, 1983), and juvenile hormone (Braun and Wyatt, 1996). In addition, hexamerins have been shown to be part of the venom protein phase in the parasitoid wasp Anastatus japonicus (Wang et al, 2020) and the honeybee A. mellifera (Hoffman, 2006), as well as being associated with phase transition, solitary to gregarious, in Locusta migratoria (Kang et al, 2004). Because of their high heritability, hexamerins have also been linked to insects' reproductive and dispersal capacities, underlying the evolutionary use of fragmented landscapes (Somervuo et al, 2014).…”