Transcriptomic analysis and molecular docking reveal genes involved in the response of Aedes aegypti larvae to an essential oil extracted from Eucalyptus

Abstract

Background Aedes aegypti (L.) is an urban mosquito, vector of several arboviruses that cause severe diseases in hundreds of million people each year. The resistance to synthetic insecticides developed by Ae. aegypti populations worldwide has contributed to failures in vector control campaigns, increasing the impact of arbovirus diseases. In this context, plant-derived essential oils with larvicidal activity could be an attractive alternative for vector control. However, the mode of action and the detoxificant response of mosquitoes to plant derived compounds have not been established, impairing the optimization of their use. Methods and findings Here we compare gene expression in Ae. aegypti larvae after 14 hrs of exposure to Eucalyptus camaldulensis essential oil with a control group exposed to vehicle (acetone) for the same lapse, by using RNA-Seq. We found differentially expressed genes encoding for cuticle proteins, fatty-acid synthesis, membrane transporters and detoxificant related gene families (i.e. heat shock proteins, cytochromes P450, glutathione transferases, UDP-glycosyltransferases and ABC transporters). Finally, our RNA-Seq and molecular docking results provide evidence pointing to a central involvement of chemosensory proteins in the detoxificant response in mosquitoes. Conclusions and significance Our work contributes to the understanding of the physiological response of Ae. aegypti larvae to an intoxication with a natural toxic distilled from Eucalyptus leafs. The results suggest an involvement of most of the gene families associated to detoxification of xenobiotics in insects. Noteworthy, this work provides important information regarding the implication of chemosensory proteins in the detoxification of a natural larvicide. Understanding the mode of detoxification of Eucalyptus distilled compounds could contribute to their implementation as a tool in mosquito control.

Transcriptomic modulation in response to an intoxication with deltamethrin in Triatoma infestans, vector of Chagas disease

“…In addition to these processes, a significantly higher abundance of a transcript (TRINITY_DN22143_c0_g1_i8.p1) that encodes for an odorant binding protein (OBP) was found after treatment with deltamethrin (Fig 1 and Table 4 in S1 file). In agreement with our results, the overexpression of some OBPs was observed after treatment with dissimilar toxic compounds in insects from different orders (see for example [22,33,86]). Moreover, the role of OBPs in the defense against xenobiotics was demonstrated in Tribolium castaneum [35,88].…”

“…aegypti [86]. This could be an adaptive response to intoxication, given that different members of the CSP family show variations in their ability to bind a particular xenobiotic [21,22]. Interestingly, the T. brasiliensis T. infestans, as previously observed for CSPs in insect genomes [29].…”

“…comparing transcription profiles of susceptible and resistant populations (as for example in [17][18][19]). Recently, the analysis of transcriptomic databases allowed the identification of new relevant components of the detoxifying response to insecticides in mosquitoes [20][21][22]. Studies addressing the transcriptomic response after a treatment with an insecticide in hemipterans are scarce (see for example [23,24]) and none of them have been performed in a vector of Chagas disease to date.…”

“…Until very recently, the assigned role of insect CSPs was reduced to olfaction through the transport of hydrophobic odorant molecules, but recent evidence points to other functions (reviewed in [30]). Among them, a possible role in insecticide binding was suggested for these proteins [21,31], and growing evidence points to a CSP role in the response to xenobiotics: an overexpression of CSPs has been observed in several insect orders after a toxic stimulus [22,[32][33][34] and in a pyrethroid-resistant mosquito population [21]. Moreover, a role of these proteins in insecticide susceptibility [35,36] and resistance [21] was recently proposed.…”

Exploration of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen in Treating Insomnia Based on Network Pharmacology Strategy

“…As a feasible and modern verification method, molecular docking is a method for drug design through the characteristics of receptors and the interaction mode between receptors and drug molecules and is widely used in the field of drug binding to protein receptors [ 22 ]. We selected three active ingredients for docking with their corresponding two targets, for a total of four component-target interactions to validate the prediction results.…”