Identification of Genes Relevant to Pesticides and Biology from Global Transcriptome Data of Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Larvae

Abstract

Monochamus alternatus Hope is the main vector in China of the Pine Wilt Disease caused by the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Although chemical control is traditionally used to prevent pine wilt disease, new strategies based in biological control are promising ways for the management of the disease. However, there is no deep sequence analysis of Monochamus alternatus Hope that describes the transcriptome and no information is available about gene function of this insect vector. We used next generation sequencing technology to sequence the whole fourth instar larva transcriptome of Monochamus alternatus Hope and successfully built a Monochamus alternatus Hope transcriptome database. In total, 105,612 unigenes were assigned for Gene Ontology (GO) terms, information for 16,730 classified unigenes was obtained in the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs) database, and 13,024 unigenes matched with 224 predicted pathways in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG). In addition, genes related to putative insecticide resistance-related genes, RNAi, the Bt receptor, intestinal digestive enzymes, possible future insect control targets and immune-related molecules are described. This study provides valuable basic information that can be used as a gateway to develop new molecular tools for Monochamus alternatus Hope control strategies.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of the Heat Stress Response in Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

“…The specific function of these unigenes could be clarified by six database annotations, especially GO classification, KEGG pathways, and COG terms. Unlike the minor ratio of "cellular component" (28.38%) in previous transcriptome analysis in M. alternatus GO annotation (Wu et al, 2016), this category (45.92%) was predominant in our study, which implied that most of the cells required being repaired after heat stress (Howard et al, 2011;Li et al, 2015;. In addition, more KEGG pathways and COG terms related to protein activity and signal transduction were also different from transcriptome data of this beetle treated with insecticide, which all suggested that stress-response mechanisms were diverse in M. alternatus.…”

“…False discovery rate (FDR) < 0.01 was marked as * * . study had analyzed the RNA-seq data of larval sawyer beetle treated with insecticide (Wu et al, 2016). Here, we detected 33,060 coding sequences in M. alternatus and observed 806 DEGs after heat treatment, which could contribute to underlying tolerant events in M. alternatus.…”

Insecticide resistance and intracellular proteases

“…Stress from virus attack, starvation, host plant defences, temperature and oxidative factors lead to their overexpression; thus this class of proteases are promising candidates as targets . In researching the genetic background in control with pesticides of the beetle Monochamus alternates (main vector in China of the pine wilt disease), cathepsin B, cysteine peptidases, neuropeptides and serine peptidases were found to be important in growth, reproduction behaviour and other physiological processes . Thus, it was considered that these proteins could be suitable as targets for research into control strategies.…”

“…56 In researching the genetic background in control with pesticides of the beetle Monochamus alternates (main vector in China of the pine wilt disease), cathepsin B, cysteine peptidases, neuropeptides and serine peptidases were found to be important in growth, reproduction behaviour and other physiological processes. 57 Thus, it was considered that these proteins could be suitable as targets for research into control strategies. Although a range of cellular proteins are upregulated when stressed insects become resistant, 17 the selection of the proteases as targets may be a preferred starting point, although not necessarily the only option.…”

Comparative analysis of the Monochamus alternatus immune system

“…Within the beetle, the nematode is exposed to the beetle's innate defence system, where it presents interspecies response to maintain the coexistence; therefore, the interaction between the parasitic nematode and its vector is noticeable (Zhao et al ., ; Zhao et al ., ; Zhao et al ., ). Previous studies have analyzed the RNA‐seq data of larval sawyer beetle (the 3rd instar larvae, the 4th instar larvae and pupal stage) treated with insecticide, which generously described putative insecticide resistance‐related genes, providing possible future insect control targets and immune‐related molecules (Wei et al ., ; Lin et al ., ; Lin et al ., ,b; Wu et al ., ). However, the knowledge of the M. alternatus immune response to B. xylophilus is almost blank at the cellular and molecular levels.…”