Expression status of heat shock proteins in response to cold, heat, or insecticide exposure in the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Abstract

The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)) is an agricultural pest that threatens the potato industry worldwide. This insect is widely regarded as one of the most difficult-to-control pests, as it can thrive in a wide range of temperature conditions and routinely develops resistance towards various insecticides. The molecular changes associated with response to these challenges have not been fully investigated in L. decemlineata. While differential expression and characterization of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in response to stress have been conducted in several insects, data regarding HSPs in L. decemlineata are limited. The overarching objective of this study consisted of evaluating the expression of various HSPs in L. decemlineata exposed to different temperatures or treated with the insecticides imidacloprid and chlorantraniliprole. Expression levels of HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, and HSP Beta-1 were evaluated by qRT-PCR and insect mortality was assessed using dsRNAs aimed at select HSP targets. Elevated HSP70 and HSP90 transcript levels were observed in heat-exposed L. decemlineata while downregulation of HSP70 transcript levels was measured in insects submitted to cold conditions. Chlorantraniliprole exposure was associated with reduced HSP Beta-1 transcript levels while no change in expression was monitored in insects exposed to imidacloprid. RNAi-based knockdown of HSP60 levels correlated with significant insect mortality 14 days after dsRNA injection. These results highlight the modulation of HSPs that occur in L. decemlineata exposed to fluctuating temperatures and position HSPs as interesting candidates in the identification of novel molecular leads that could be targeted to control this insect.

Effects of abiotic stress on the expression of Hsp70 genes in Sogatella furcifera (Horváth)

“…A study on Corythucha ciliata revealed that CcHSP70 expression levels increased gradually with an increase in temperature and peaked at 41°C (Ju et al 2018). Similar results were obtained with Leptinotarsa decemlineata upon heat treatment (Dumas et al 2019). In addition, the transcriptome analyses of three rice planthoppers found that a high temperature can induce the expression of the heat shock protein 70 gene (Huang et al 2017).…”

“…Heatmaps were generated using the pheatmap package gene was significantly downregulated with an increase in the treatment concentration (Lu et al 2017). Moreover, a study on L. decemlineata reported no significant effect on Hsp70 expression levels upon imidacloprid and chlorantraniliprole treatment (Dumas et al 2019). Our results show that thiamethoxam, buprofezin, and abamectin treatment at LC 10 and LC 25 significantly downregulated the five Hsp70 genes after 48 h in S. furcifera nymphs.…”

“…Similar results were found in the L. decemlineata study. Compared to the control (maintained at 15°C), when L. decemlineata were exposed to 5°C, the expression level of the Hsp70 gene was significantly induced; however, when L. decemlineata were exposed to − 5°C, the expression level of the Hsp70 gene was significantly inhibited (Dumas et al 2019). A study of Apolygus lucorum found that the expression of the Alhsc70 gene was significantly reduced by the 4°C treatment when compared with the control (Sun et al 2016).…”

Differential expression of transcripts with potential relevance to chlorantraniliprole response in the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata

“…dsRNA against select targets was completed with the MEGAscript RNAi Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) as performed previously (Dumas, Morin, Boquel, Moffat, & Morin, ). The L. decemlineata sequences for CYP350D1 or CYP4Q3 were selected as RNAi target‐sequences.…”

Thermal pretreatment promotes the protective effect of HSP70 against tendon adhesion in tendon healing by increasing HSP70 expression

“…RT-qPCR was conducted with synthesized cDNA using a Fast SYBR Green PCR kit (Applied Biosystems; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.). Based on the sequences provided by GenBank (19), specific RT stem-loop primers and primers for PCR amplification (Table II) were designed using Primer Premier 5.0 (Premier Biosoft International, Palo Alto, CA, USA). RT-qPCR analyses were conducted on an ABI 7500 PCR instrument (Applied Biosystems; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.).…”