Unexpected functional diversity in the fatty acid desaturases of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and identification of key residues determining activity

Haritos, Victoria S.; Horne, Irene; Damcevski, Katherine; Glover, Karen; Gibb, Nerida

doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2014.05.006

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The predicted amino acid sequences were further aligned with known Δ9-desaturases from other insects to identify salient features. Seven putative Δ9-desaturases (Nlug-desatA1-a, Nlug-desatA1-b, Nlug-desatA1-c, Nlug-desatA2, Nlug-desatB, Nlug-desatC, and Nlug-desatD) share high similarity with Δ9-desaturases from other insects in the conserved histidine (His)-containing regions (region Ⅰa, region Ⅰb and region Ⅱ) which are crucial for catalytic activity (Figure 2) [9,33]. However, in Nlug-desatE, the 6th and 8th conserved His residues were replaced by proline (P) and tyrosine (Y), respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, desaturases are well-studied in several Lepidopteran, Dipteran, and Hymenopteran species, and several desaturases have been identified and characterized across other insect orders as well. For instance, desaturases Δ5, Δ9 and Δ12 in the flour beetle Tribilium castaneum (Coleoptera) [32,33] and Δ9 desaturase in the house cricket Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera) [34] have been cloned and functionally characterized. In contrast, we face a shortage of information about the desaturases of Hemipteran insects, although recently a metathoracic scent gland desaturase has been found that is involved in female sexual attractiveness in the plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Desaturase Gene Family is Crucially Required for Fatty Acid Metabolism and Survival of the Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

Zeng

Noman

et al. 2019

IJMS

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Desaturases are essentially required for unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) biosynthesis. We identified 10 genes encoding putative desaturases in the transcriptome database of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens. These include eight First Desaturase family genes, one cytochrome b5 fused desaturase gene (Nlug-Cytb5r) and one Sphingolipid Desaturase gene (Nlug-ifc). Transcript level profiling revealed significant variation in the expression patterns of these genes across tissues and developmental stages, which occur in a gene-specific manner. Interestingly, their expression was also modulated by the insect food source: the mRNA levels of Nlug-desatC and Nlug-Cytb5r were down-regulated, but the expression level of Nlug-desatA1-b and Nlug-desatA1-c were elevated in the BPH fed on the resistant rice variety Babawee as compared to the non-resistant variety Taichun Native 1 (TN1). Silencing Nlug-desatA1-b, Nlug-desatA1-c, or Nlug-Ifc reduced fatty acid composition and abundance in female BPH 1-d-old-adults compared to controls. Whereas, single knockdown of all ten desaturase genes significantly increased mortality of BPH nymphs compared with controls. Of the ten desaturase genes, knockdown of Nlug-desatA1-b and Nlug-desatA2 caused the highest mortality in BPH (91% and 97%, respectively). Our findings offer a base for expression and functional characterization of newly identified desaturase genes in BPH, and may contribute to RNA interference-based pest management strategies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Desaturase Gene Family is Crucially Required for Fatty Acid Metabolism and Survival of the Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

Zeng

Noman

et al. 2019

IJMS

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“…This approach, however, does not completely rule out the possibility that C18:2 Δ9,12 is produced by associated microorganisms rather than by the studied animal itself. Unequivocal evidence for C18:2 Δ9,12 biosynthetic capacity requires isolation and functional characterisation of insect-derived Δ12-FAD genes, which has been achieved so far only for the house cricket Acheta domesticus (AdD12Des, here referred to as Adom_D12) (Zhou et al, 2008), the soldier beetle Chauliognathus lugubris (CL10, Clug_D12) (Haritos et al, 2012) and the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (TcD12Des, Tcas_D12) (Haritos et al, 2014;Zhou et al, 2008). It is unknown, however, whether the Δ12-FADs in these species are involved in primary fatty acid metabolism or pheromone biosynthesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional characterisation of two Δ12-desaturases demonstrates targeted production of linoleic acid as pheromone precursor inNasonia

Semmelmann

Kabeya

Malcicka

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Insect pheromones are often derived from fatty acid metabolism. Fatty acid desaturases, enzymes introducing double bonds into fatty acids, are crucial for the biosynthesis of these chemical signals. Δ12-desaturases catalyse the biosynthesis of linoleic acid by introducing a second double bond into oleic acid, but have been identified in only a few animal species. Here, we report the functional characterisation of two Δ12-desaturases, Nvit_D12a and Nvit_D12b, from the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis. We demonstrate that Nvit_D12a is expressed in the rectal vesicle of males where they produce a linoleic acid-derived sex pheromone to attract virgin females. 13 C-labelling experiments with Urolepis rufipes, a closely related species belonging to the 'Nasonia group', revealed that females, but not males, are able to synthesise linoleic acid. U. rufipes males produce an isoprenoid sex pheromone in the same gland and do not depend on linoleic acid for pheromone production. This suggests that Δ12-desaturases are common in the 'Nasonia group', but acquired a specialised function in chemical communication of those species that use linoleic acid as a pheromone precursor. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that insect Δ12-desaturases have evolved repeatedly from Δ9-desaturases in different insect taxa. Hence, insects have developed a way to produce linoleic acid independent of the omega desaturase subfamily which harbours all of the eukaryotic Δ12-desaturases known so far.

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“…The predicted Asutdes protein shares several key features with other known insect desaturases, including three conserved histamine motifs (H1–H3), which are crucial for spanning the membrane bilayer and catalytic activity (Shanklin et al ., ; Haritos et al ., ), and four transmembrane regions (Fig. A).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knockdown of a metathoracic scent gland desaturase enhances the production of (E)‐4‐oxo‐2‐hexenal and suppresses female sexual attractiveness in the plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis

Luo

et al. 2017

Insect Molecular Biology

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Insect sex pheromones (SPs) are central to mate-finding behaviour, and play an essential role in the survival and reproduction of organisms. Understanding the roles, biosynthetic pathways and evolution of insect chemical communication systems has been an exciting challenge for biologists. Compared with Lepidoptera, little is known about the mechanisms underlying pheromone biosynthesis in Hemiptera. In this study, we isolated and characterized two new desaturase-like genes, termed Asutdes1 and Asutdes2, from Adelphocoris suturalis, an important agricultural pest in China. Although the two genes encode an identical protein, Southern blot analysis revealed that they are duplicated genes. The Asutdes2 transcript is more abundant than Asutdes1 in the tissues tested, in particular the metathoracic scent gland and fat body. Silencing Asutdes expression in females by injecting double-stranded RNA (dsAsutdes) against a portion of the coding sequence shared by the two genes enhanced the production of (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal, a component of the A. suturalis SP blend, and dramatically suppressed the sexual attractiveness of A. suturalis females. We conclude that dsAsutdes is associated with the SP biosynthetic pathway in A. suturalis.

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Unexpected functional diversity in the fatty acid desaturases of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and identification of key residues determining activity

Cited by 20 publications

References 32 publications

The Desaturase Gene Family is Crucially Required for Fatty Acid Metabolism and Survival of the Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

The Desaturase Gene Family is Crucially Required for Fatty Acid Metabolism and Survival of the Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

Functional characterisation of two Δ12-desaturases demonstrates targeted production of linoleic acid as pheromone precursor inNasonia

Knockdown of a metathoracic scent gland desaturase enhances the production of (E)‐4‐oxo‐2‐hexenal and suppresses female sexual attractiveness in the plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis

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