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- Title
Identification and Functional Analysis of the fruitless Gene in a Hemimetabolous Insect, Nilaparvata lugens.
- Authors
Wang, Biyun; Mao, Zeping; Chen, Youyuan; Ying, Jinjun; Wang, Haiqiang; Sun, Zongtao; Li, Junmin; Zhang, Chuanxi; Zhuo, Jichong
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Mating behavior plays a crucial role in the survival and reproduction of insect populations. The fruitless (fru) gene, recognized for regulating male mating behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster, acts as a central "tuner", shaping courtship behavior through sex-specific expression patterns within the courtship neural circuit. While fru homologs and sex-specific isoforms have been identified in other holometabolan insects, controlling mating behavior, hemimetabolous insects show the generation of non-sex-specific mRNAs by the fru gene, suggesting potential functional differences. This study focuses on fru homologs (Nlfru) in the Hemiptera species Nilaparvata lugens, utilizing RNAi-mediated knockdown to explore Nlfru functions in male mating behavior and tissue development. Our research contributes to understanding the regulation of mating behavior in N. lugens and sheds light on the evolution of the fru gene across insect species. The fruitless (fru) gene functions as a crucial "tuner" in male insect courtship behavior through distinct expression patterns. In Nilaparvata lugens, our previous research showed doublesex (dsx) influencing male courtship songs, causing mating failures with virgin females. However, the impact of fru on N. lugens mating remains unexplored. In this study, the fru homolog (Nlfru) in N. lugens yielded four spliceosomes: Nlfru-374-a/b, Nlfru-377, and Nlfru-433, encoding proteins of 374aa, 377aa, and 433aa, respectively. Notably, only Nlfru-374b exhibited male bias, while the others were non-sex-specific. All NlFRU proteins featured the BTB conserved domain, with NlFRU-374 and NlFRU-377 possessing the ZnF domain with different sequences. RNAi-mediated Nlfru or its isoforms' knockdown in nymph stages blocked wing-flapping behavior in mating males, while embryonic knockdown via maternal RNAi resulted in over 80% of males losing wing-flapping ability, and female receptivity was reduced. Nlfru expression was Nldsx-regulated, and yet courtship signals and mating success were unaffected. Remarkably, RNAi-mediated Nlfru knockdown up-regulated the expression of flightin in macropterous males, which regulated muscle stiffness and delayed force response, suggesting Nlfru's involvement in muscle development regulation. Collectively, our results indicate that Nlfru functions in N. lugens exhibit a combination of conservation and species specificity, contributing insights into fru evolution, particularly in Hemiptera species.
- Subjects
NILAPARVATA lugens; INSECT genes; ANIMAL sexual behavior; FUNCTIONAL analysis; GENE expression; BIRDSONGS; ANIMAL courtship
- Publication
Insects (2075-4450), 2024, Vol 15, Issue 4, p262
- ISSN
2075-4450
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/insects15040262