Mechanistic effects of microwave radiation on pupal emergence in the leafminer fly, Liriomyza trifolii

• Published in: Bulletin of entomological research Vol. 113; no. 2; pp. 282 - 291
• Main Authors: Chang, Ya-Wen, Zhang, Yue, Yan, Yu-Qing, Wang, Yu-Cheng, Wu, Cheng-Dong, Hu, Jie, Du, Yu-Zhou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.04.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Antioxidants; Biomarkers; Cluster analysis; Diptera; Emergence; Encyclopaedias; Encyclopedias; Enzymes; Gene expression; Genes; Genomes; Heat shock; Heat shock proteins; Heat-Shock Proteins - genetics; Immunity; Insects; Insulin; Liriomyza trifolii; Microwave radiation; Microwaves; Pain perception; Pest control; Pests; Post-translation; Protein turnover; Proteins; Pupa - genetics; Pupa - metabolism; Pupae; Radiation; Research Paper; RNA-mediated interference; Sensory perception; Signal transduction; Stored products; Survival; Transcription; Transcriptomics; Vegetables; Zinc; United States > US; China; microwave radiation; Differentially expressed genes; RNAi; transcriptome analysis; Liriomyza trifolii
• ISSN: 0007-4853; 1475-2670; 1475-2670
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007485322000578

Liriomyza trifolii is a significant pest of vegetable and ornamental crops across the globe. Microwave radiation has been used for controlling pests in stored products; however, there are few reports on the use of microwaves for eradicating agricultural pests such as L. trifolii, and its effects on pests at the molecular level is unclear. In this study, we show that microwave radiation inhibited the emergence of L. trifolii pupae. Transcriptomic studies of L. trifolii indicated significant enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ‘post-translational modification, protein turnover, chaperones’, ‘sensory perception of pain/transcription repressor complex/zinc ion binding’ and ‘insulin signaling pathway’ when analyzed with the Clusters of Orthologous Groups, Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases, respectively. The top DEGs were related to reproduction, immunity and development and were significantly expressed after microwave radiation. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in the expression of genes encoding heat shock proteins or antioxidant enzymes in L. trifolii treated with microwave radiation as compared to the untreated control. The expression of DEGs encoding cuticular protein and protein takeout were silenced by RNA interference, and the results showed that knockdown of these two DEGs reduced the survival of L. trifolii exposed to microwave radiation. The results of this study help elucidate the molecular response of L. trifolii exposed to microwave radiation and provide novel ideas for control.