Massive Shift in Gene Expression during Transitions between Developmental Stages of the Gall Midge, Mayetiola Destructor

Abstract

Mayetiola destructor is a destructive pest of wheat and has six developmental stages. Molecular mechanisms controlling the transition between developmental stages remain unknown. Here we analyzed genes that were expressed differentially between two successive developmental stages, including larvae at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days, pupae, and adults. A total of 17,344 genes were expressed during one or more of these studied stages. Among the expressed genes, 38–68% were differently expressed between two successive stages, with roughly equal percentages of up- and down-regulated genes. Analysis of the functions of the differentially expressed genes revealed that each developmental stage had some unique types of expressed genes that are characteristic of the physiology at that stage. This is the first genome-wide analysis of genes differentially expressed in different stages in a gall midge. The large dataset of up- and down-regulated genes in each stage of the insect shall be very useful for future research to elucidate mechanisms regulating insect development and other biological processes.

Heme-Peroxidase 2, a Peroxinectin-Like Gene, Regulates Bacterial Homeostasis in Anopheles stephensi Midgut

“…Differential expression of AsHPX2 gene in different stages of mosquito development corroborates with the expression profile of some peroxidases (Mdes000915, Mdes001004, Mdes009520, and Mdes015930) across the developmental stages of Hessian fly Mayetiola destructor (Chen et al, 2016). Because peroxidases catalyze the crosslinking of biological matrices and regulate immune functions thus, their expression might reveal a direct association to the immune status and/or bacterial homeostasis during insect development.…”

Genes Expressed Differentially in Hessian Fly Larvae Feeding in Resistant and Susceptible Plants

“…On average 33.5 million of 2 × 101 bp paired-end raw reads per sample were obtained. The raw reads were processed as described previously [ 21 ], and were mapped to the Hessian fly draft genome sequence (Mdes20100623, ) [ 22 ] via GSNAP, an intron-aware aligner [ 23 ]. A total of 18,593 informative gene models (defined in the Methods and referred to as genes hereafter) were identified.…”

“…To determine what types of genes were up- or down-regulated between samples, the 18,593 informative genes were annotated based on BLASTX search results as described previously [ 21 ], and were updated when this paper was prepared. Based on updated gene annotation, 10,477 (56.3%) of the informative genes had matches with Genbank sequences with E -values ≤ 1 × 10 −30 .…”

A Horizontal Gene Transfer Led to the Acquisition of a Fructan Metabolic Pathway in a Gall Midge

“…These two genes were expressed fairly equally in all stages and tissues of Hessian fly according to previous RNA‐seq data. [ 47 ] Relative expression levels of MDL family are indicated by Mean ± standard deviation (SD) ( n = 3), which are listed in Table S2 (Supporting Information). Each sample contained three biological replicates with three technical replicates for each biological replicate.…”