Neuropeptide hormone bursicon mediates female reproduction in the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Frontiers in Endocrinology

Endocrinology

Liuhao Wang¹  Bin Yang¹  Hao Yu¹  Kui Wang¹  Sijia Wang¹  Hongwei Zhang¹  Qisheng Song² 

[1] Department of Natural Resources, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan, China;Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States;

关键词: bursicon;    reproduction;    vitellogenesis;    juvenile hormone;    Bemisia tabaci;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fendo.2023.1277439

 received in 2023-08-14, accepted in 2023-09-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Bursicon, a neuropeptide hormone comprising two subunits-bursicon (burs) and partner of burs (pburs), belongs to the cystine-knot protein family. Bursicon heterodimers and homodimers bind to the lucine-rich G-protein coupled receptor (LGR) encoded by rickets to regulate multiple physiological processes in arthropods. Notably, these processes encompass the regulation of female reproduction, a recent revelation in Tribolium castaneum. In this study we investigated the role of burs/pburs/rickets in mediating female vitellogenesis and reproduction in a hemipteran insect, the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Our investigation unveiled a synchronized expression of burs, pburs and rickets, with their transcripts persisting detectable in the days following eclosion. RNAi-mediated knockdown of burs, pburs or rickets significantly suppressed the transcript levels of vitellogenin (Vg) and Vg receptor in the female whiteflies. These effects also impaired ovarian maturation and female fecundity, as evidenced by a reduction in the number of eggs laid per female, a decrease in egg size and a decline in egg hatching rate. Furthermore, knockdown of burs, pburs or rickets led to diminished juvenile hormone (JH) titers and reduced transcript level of Kruppel homolog-1. However, this impact did not extend to genes in the insulin pathway or target of rapamycin pathway, deviating from the results observed in T. castaneum. Taken together, we conclude that burs/pburs/rickets regulates the vitellogenesis and reproduction in the whiteflies by coordinating with the JH signaling pathway.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Yu, Yang, Wang, Wang, Wang, Song and Zhang