Octopamine signaling is involved in the female postmating state in Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

Abstract

Mating triggers physiological and behavioral changes in female insects. In many species, females experience postmating behavioral and physiological changes that define a post-mated state. These changes are comprised of several conditions, including long-term refractoriness to re-mating and increased production and laying of eggs. Here, we report that mating led to several changes in brown planthopper (BPH) females, including increased octopamine (OA), cAMP concentrations, and activities of several enzymes. Mating also led to changes in the expression of several genes acting in female physiology, including those in the cAMP/PKA signal transduction pathway. OA injections into virgin females led to similar changes. RNAi silencing of the gene encoding tyramine β-hydroxylase, involved in the final step in OA synthesis, led to decreased expression of these genes, and reduced the cAMP/PKA signaling. At the whole-organism level, the RNAi treatments led to reduced fecundity, body weights, and longevity. RNAi silencing of genes acting in OA signaling led to truncated ovarian development, egg maturation, and ovarian vitellogenin (Vg) uptake. The impact of these decreases is also registered at the population level, seen as decreased population growth. We infer that OA signaling Sheraz Ahmad and Yu Chen contributed equally to this study.

The Phosphoserine Phosphatase Alters the Free Amino Acid Compositions and Fecundity in Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter

“…The total RNA was extracted from the C. lividipennis bodies using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen) and then treated with RNase-free DNase I. In addition, the cDNA was synthesized in 20 μL reaction volumes with random hexamers and oligo dT primers for 15 min at 37 °C using the PrimeScript RT Reagent Kit and gDNA eraser (TaKaRa) following the procedure of Ahmad et al (2021) [ 54 ]. The CFX touch real-time PCR and the SYBR Premix Ex Taq Kit (Takara) were used to perform quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 96-well plates (Bio-Rad).…”

Molecular and Pharmacological Characterization of β-Adrenergic-like Octopamine Receptors in the Endoparasitoid Cotesia chilonis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

“…Norepinephrine and OA are similar in structure and function, and they are generally considered counterparts in vertebrates and invertebrates, respectively [ 2 , 3 ]. OA is abundant in the central nervous system of insects [ 4 , 5 ], and regulates diverse processes of physiology and behaviors, such as feeding [ 6 , 7 , 8 ], aggression [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], sleep [ 13 , 14 ], courtship [ 15 , 16 ], post-mating [ 17 , 18 ], oviposition [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], learning [ 22 , 23 ], reward [ 24 ], immunity [ 25 , 26 ], exercise adaption [ 27 , 28 ], thermogenesis [ 29 ], and muscle contractility [ 30 ].…”