Mating-Induced Differential Peptidomics of Neuropeptides and Protein Hormones in Agrotis ipsilon Moths

Abstract

In many insects, mating induces drastic changes in male and female responses to sex pheromones or host-plant odors. In the male moth Agrotis ipsilon, mating induces a transient inhibition of behavioral and neuronal responses to the female sex pheromone. As neuropeptides and peptide hormones regulate most behavioral processes, we hypothesize that they could be involved in this mating-dependent olfactory plasticity. Here we used next-generation RNA sequencing and a combination of liquid chromatography, matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, and direct tissue profiling to analyze the transcriptome and peptidome of different brain compartments in virgin and mated males and females of A. ipsilon. We identified 37 transcripts encoding putative neuropeptide precursors and 54 putative bioactive neuropeptides from 23 neuropeptide precursors (70 sequences in total, 25 neuropeptide precursors) in different areas of the central nervous system including the antennal lobes, the gnathal ganglion, and the corpora cardiaca-corpora allata complex. Comparisons between virgin and mated males and females revealed tissue-specific differences in peptide composition between sexes and according to physiological state. Mated males showed postmating differences in neuropeptide occurrence, which could participate in the mating-induced olfactory plasticity.

Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): Intoxication with essential oils isolated from Lippia turbinata (Griseb.) and analysis of neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptors, putative targets for pest control

“…Expansion in insulin‐like neuropeptide (ILP) family was reported in some Lepidoptera species, such as Manduca sexta (26 paralogues) and B. mori (44 paralogues; Kanost et al, 2016; Kondo, Ino, Suzuki, Ishizaki, & Iwami, 1996; Yoshida, Moto, Sakurai, & Iwami, 1998), being a remarkable example of neuropeptide‐precursor gene duplication. In P. interpunctella transcriptome we were able to identify 11 ILP‐encoding transcripts (Table 1; Supplementary Information 1 and 2), which is a reduction compared to B. mori and M. sexta , but an expansion when compared to Agrotis ipsilon transcriptome (8 paralogues; Diesner et al, 2018) or the monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ) genome (7 paralogues; Zhan, Merlin, Boore, & Reppert, 2011). This finding, together with the clustering of ILP genes in the genome (Kanost et al, 2016), reinforces the hypothesis that the big expansion in ILP family is a recent event during Lepidoptera evolution, not present in all the species from this order.…”

“…We detected both PloinSIFamide and PloinIMFamide in our transcriptomic analysis (Table 1; Supplementary Information 1 and 2). Furthermore, the presence of SIFamide and IMFamide in Chilo suppressalis (Xu et al, 2016) and A. ipsilon transcriptomes (Diesner et al, 2018) indicates that this duplication is extended in lepidopterans.…”

Drosophilacarboxypeptidase D (SILVER) is a key enzyme in neuropeptide processing required to maintain locomotor activity levels and survival rate

“…This method comprises on-plate extraction, which specifically extracts peptides (Schachtner, Wegener, Neupert, & Predel, 2010;Wegener et al, 2010) and allows to reliably identify peptides by mass match in Drosophila (Predel et al, 2004;Wegener, Reinl, Jänsch, & Predel, 2006) and other insects (e.g. Audsley, Matthews, Down, & Weaver, 2011;Diesner et al, 2018).…”

Omics approaches to study juvenile hormone synthesis

“…Studies on neuropeptides expressed in the CA-CC of the Tsetse fly Glossina morsitans also revealed the presence of AKH and sNPF [75]. A proteomics study of the CC-CA in Agrotis ipsilon moths described the identification of AKH, AST-A, corazonin and sNPF [76]. The presence and function of these peptides in the CA is debatable for two main reasons.…”