Identification, Characterization and Expression of Methuselah-Like Genes in Dastarcus helophoroides (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae)

Abstract

Dastarcus helophoroides, which has a relatively longer lifespan compared to other insects, is one of the most effective natural enemies of many large-body long-horned beetles. Methuselah (Mth) is associated with the lifespan, stress resistance, and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster, but Mth is not present in non-drosophiline insects. A number of methuselah-like genes (mth-likes, mthls) have been identified in non-drosophiline insects, but it is still unknown whether they are present in Dastarcus helophoroides. We identified three novel mth-like genes in D. helophoroides: mth-like1, mth-like2, and mth-like5, and carried out bioinformatic analysis based on the full-length nucleic acid sequences and deduced amino acid sequences. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) showed variations in expression patterns of mth-like genes in different tissues (highly expressed in reproductive systems) and at different developmental stages, indicating that mth-likes were likely be involved in reproduction and development. The altered mRNA expression in aging adults and under oxidation, high temperature, and starvation stress, indicated that mth-like genes were likely to be involved in aging and the resistance of oxidation, high temperature, and starvation. These results characterize, for the first time, the basic properties of three mth-like genes from D. helophoroides that probably play important roles in development, aging, reproduction, and stress resistance.

Physiological functions of a methuselah-like G protein coupled receptor in Lymantria dispar Linnaeus

“…To date, the mth gene has not been detected in any nondrosophiline insects. However, many mthl genes have been identified, including seven from Anopheles gambiae, four from Bombyx mori, four from Apis mellifera, three from Acyrthosiphon pisum, five from Tribolium castaneum, and three from Dastarcus helophoroides (Hill et al, 2002;Fan et al, 2010;Bai et al, 2011;Li et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2016;Li et al, 2014a). Five mthls identified in T. castaneum have a significant effect on development, lifespan, stress resistance and reproduction, whereas there is a functional divergence among these mthls (Li et al, 2014b).…”

Gene Ages, Nomenclatures, and Functional Diversification of the Methuselah/Methuselah‐Like GPCR Family in Drosophila and Tribolium

“…() but appears to not have taken into account its incongruence with that used by Li et al. (2014) (Zhang et al., ).…”

“…One exception was the Tribolium mth superclade homolog to indicate its 1:n orthology to the all members of the Drosophila mth superclade (Table 1). As a second example, the recent thorough experimental characterization of Mth/Mthl genes in the dry bark beetle Dastarcus helophoroides (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae) adopted the Drosophila-based nomenclature by Patel et al (2012) but appears to not have taken into account its incongruence with that used by Li et al (2014) (Zhang et al, 2016).…”

Proteomic profile of aphids exposed to wheat with different contents of benzoxazinoids

“…Likewise, GGH expression is reported to increase during the decrease in Buchnera density in the bacteriocytes of alate morphs in pea aphids (Nishikori et al ., ). SOD catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide bonds into molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide and is a prominent antioxidant enzyme involved in lifespan extension in insects (Zhang et al ., ). Thus, DIMBOA appears to trigger stress responses at the proteomic level, which occur in the relative long term.…”