Mitogenome Analysis of Four Lamiinae Species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Gene Expression Responses by Monochamus alternatus When Infected with the Parasitic Nematode, Bursaphelenchus mucronatus

Abstract

We determined the mitochondrial gene sequence of Monochamus alternatus and three other mitogenomes of Lamiinae (Insect: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) belonging to three genera (Aulaconotus, Apriona and Paraglenea) to enrich the mitochondrial genome database of Lamiinae and further explore the phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily. Phylogenetic trees of the Lamiinae were built using the Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods and the monophyly of Monochamus, Anoplophora, and Batocera genera was supported. Anoplophora chinensis, An. glabripennis and Aristobia reticulator were closely related, suggesting they may also be potential vectors for the transmission of the pine wood pathogenic nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) in addition to M. alternatus, a well-known vector of pine wilt disease. There is a special symbiotic relationship between M. alternatus and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. As the native sympatric sibling species of B. xylophilus, B. mucronatus also has a specific relationship that is often overlooked. The analysis of mitochondrial gene expression aimed to explore the effect of B. mucronatus on the energy metabolism of the respiratory chain of M. alternatus adults. Using RT-qPCR, we determined and analyzed the expression of eight mitochondrial protein-coding genes (COI, COII, COIII, ND1, ND4, ND5, ATP6, and Cty b) between M. alternatus infected by B. mucronatus and M. alternatus without the nematode. Expression of all the eight mitochondrial genes were up-regulated, particularly the ND4 and ND5 gene, which were up-regulated by 4–5-fold (p < 0.01). Since longicorn beetles have immune responses to nematodes, we believe that their relationship should not be viewed as symbiotic, but classed as parasitic.

Comparative Mitogenomic Analysis of Two Longhorn Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) with Preliminary Investigation into Phylogenetic Relationships of Tribes of Lamiinae

“…In this study, the monophyly of Lamiinae was highly supported, which had been confirmed in previous studies [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 51 , 61 ]. We also studied the phylogenetic relationships between some tribes among Lamiinae, and the monophyly of Lamiini was supported (BS = 100; PP = 1).…”

“…Souza et al (2020), who performed the first, relatively dense phylogenetic systematic assessment of Lamiinae, supported Phytoeciini as a synonym of Saperdini [ 13 ]. Further, the phylogenetic tree ( Figure 3 in Zhang et al (2021)) of 30 species of Lamiinae based on the nucleotide dataset of the 13PCGs of mitogenomes showed the same result [ 61 ].…”

Cryptic Species Exist in Vietnamella sinensis Hsu, 1936 (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) from Studies of Complete Mitochondrial Genomes

“…Mega 7.0 was also used to calculate the genetic distance. We calculated the AT content and relative synonymous codon usage rate (RSCU) of the three genomes [ 16 ] using PhyloSuite v.1.2.2 [ 51 ]. With reference to invertebrate genetic codes, the nucleic acid sequences of the 13 PCGs were translated into amino acid sequences [ 16 , 52 ].…”

“…We calculated the AT content and relative synonymous codon usage rate (RSCU) of the three genomes [ 16 ] using PhyloSuite v.1.2.2 [ 51 ]. With reference to invertebrate genetic codes, the nucleic acid sequences of the 13 PCGs were translated into amino acid sequences [ 16 , 52 ]. The three mt genomes were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers OK265109–OK265111.…”

“…Insect mt genomes are usually double-stranded circular molecules of 14–20 kb in length, encoding 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), and a control region (CR; AT-rich region) [ 2 ]. Many researchers have stimulated great interest in the insects’ mt genome including testing hypotheses about microevolution, mt gene expression, population structure analysis, phylogenetic relationships, and identification of cryptic species [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Since William Derham discovered the first cryptic species in 1718, these species are still a principal subject of several research areas and actually have a history of 300 years [ 18 ].…”