Modulation of fatty acid elongation sustains sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness in<i>Blattella germanica</i>(L.)

Pei, Xiao-Jin; Fan, Yongliang; Bai, Yuling; Bai, Tao; Schal, Coby; Zhang, Z; Chen, N; S, Li; Liu, Tong‐Xian

doi:10.1101/2021.03.04.434003

2021

DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.04.434003

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Modulation of fatty acid elongation sustains sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness inBlattella germanica(L.)

Xiao-Jin Pei¹,

Yongliang Fan²,

Yuling Bai

et al.

Abstract: Insect cuticular compounds serve multiple functions. As important intersexual signaling chemicals, they show variation between the sexes, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, we report that sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons (SDHCs) are generated by a fatty acid elongase gene that is regulated by sex-differentiation genes in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica. Sexually mature females possess more C29 cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), especially the contact sex pheromone precurs… Show more

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Cited by 3 publications

References 88 publications

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Evaluation of Reference Genes for Transcriptional Profiling in Two Cockroach Models

Zhu

Liu

Liao

et al. 2021

Genes

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The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, and the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana are the most common and synanthropic household pests of interest to public health. While they have increasingly served as model systems in hemimetabolous insects for studying many biological issues, there is still a lack of stable reference gene evaluation for reliable quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) outputs and functional genomics. Here, we evaluated the expression variation of common insect reference genes, including the historically used actin, across various tissues and developmental stages, and also under experimental treatment conditions in these two species by using three individual algorithms (geNorm, BestKeeper, and NormFinder) and a comprehensive program (RefFinder). RPL32 in B. germanica and EF1α in P. americana showed the overall lowest variation among all examined samples. Based on the stability rankings by RefFinder, the optimal but varied reference genes under specific conditions were selected for qPCR normalization. In addition, the combination of RPL32 and EF1α was recommended for all the tested tissues and stages in B. germanica, whereas the combination of multiple reference genes was unfavorable in P. americana. This study provides a condition-specific resource of reference gene selection for accurate gene expression profiling and facilitating functional genomics in these two important cockroaches.

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Evaluation of Reference Genes for Transcriptional Profiling in Two Cockroach Models

Zhu

Liu

Liao

et al. 2021

Genes

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Neglected Very Long-Chain Hydrocarbons and the Incorporation of Body Surface Area Metrics Reveal Novel Perspectives for Cuticular Profile Analysis in Insects

Golian

Bien

Schmelzle

et al. 2022

Insects

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Most of our knowledge on insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) stems from analytical techniques based on gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, this method has its limits under standard conditions, particularly in detecting compounds beyond a chain length of around C40. Here, we compare the CHC chain length range detectable by GC-MS with the range assessed by silver-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (Ag-LDI-MS), a novel and rarely applied technique on insect CHCs, in seven species of the order Blattodea. For all tested species, we unveiled a considerable range of very long-chain CHCs up to C58, which are not detectable by standard GC-MS technology. This indicates that general studies on insect CHCs may frequently miss compounds in this range, and we encourage future studies to implement analytical techniques extending the conventionally accessed chain length range. Furthermore, we incorporate 3D scanned insect body surface areas as an additional factor for the comparative quantification of extracted CHC amounts between our study species. CHC quantity distributions differed considerably when adjusted for body surface areas as opposed to directly assessing extracted CHC amounts, suggesting that a more accurate evaluation of relative CHC quantities can be achieved by taking body surface areas into account.

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An Acyl Carrier Protein Gene Affects Fatty Acid Synthesis and Growth of Hermetia illucens

Peng

Liu

et al. 2023

Insects

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Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is an acyl carrier in fatty acid synthesis and is an important cofactor of fatty acid synthetase. Little is known about ACP in insects and how this protein may modulate the composition and storage of fatty acids. We used an RNAi-assisted strategy to study the potential function of ACP in Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). We identified a HiACP gene with a cDNA length of 501 bp and a classical conserved region of DSLD. This gene was highly expressed in the egg and late larval instars and was most abundant in the midgut and fat bodies of larvae. Injection of dsACP significantly inhibited the expression level of HiACP and further regulated the fatty acid synthesis in treated H. illucens larvae. The composition of saturated fatty acids was reduced, and the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) was increased. After interfering with HiACP, the cumulative mortality of H. illucens increased to 68.00% (p < 0.05). H. illucens growth was greatly influenced. The development duration increased to 5.5 days, the average final body weights of larvae and pupae were decreased by 44.85 mg and 14.59 mg, respectively, and the average body lengths of larvae and pupae were significantly shortened by 3.09 mm and 3.82 mm, respectively. The adult eclosion rate and the oviposition of adult females were also severely influenced. These results demonstrated that HiACP regulates fatty acid content and influences multiple biological processes of H. illucens.

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Modulation of fatty acid elongation sustains sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness inBlattella germanica(L.)

Cited by 3 publications

References 88 publications

Evaluation of Reference Genes for Transcriptional Profiling in Two Cockroach Models

Evaluation of Reference Genes for Transcriptional Profiling in Two Cockroach Models

Neglected Very Long-Chain Hydrocarbons and the Incorporation of Body Surface Area Metrics Reveal Novel Perspectives for Cuticular Profile Analysis in Insects

An Acyl Carrier Protein Gene Affects Fatty Acid Synthesis and Growth of Hermetia illucens

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