Identification and expression patterns of UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes from insect pest Athetis lepigone (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

• Published in: Journal of Asia-Pacific entomology Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 253 - 259
• Main Authors: Zhang, Ya-Nan, Ma, Ji-Fang, Xu, Lu, Dong, Zhi-Ping, Xu, Ji-Wei, Li, Meng-Ya, Zhu, Xiu-Yun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.03.2017; 한국응용곤충학회
• Subjects: Athetis lepigone; Diverse functions; Expression pattern; Phylogenetic analysis; UDP-glucuronosyltransferase; 농수해양학; Phylogenetic analysis; UDP-glucuronosyltransferase; Expression pattern; Athetis lepigone; Diverse functions
• ISSN: 1226-8615; 1876-7990
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aspen.2017.01.008

UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) genes, which belong to an ancient gene family and play very important roles in all organisms, encode extracellularly secreted proteins that are involved in the transfer of glycosyl residues from activated nucleotide sugars to acceptor hydrophobic molecules (aglycones). Athetis lepigone is an important polyphagous pest worldwide, and since 2011 it has become one of the major maize pests in North China. However, there have been no studies on pesticides for the effective control of this pest. In this study, we identified 23 putative UGT genes in A. lepigone by analysing previous antennal transcriptomic data. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all of the AlUGTs are distributed within 11 of 14 insect UGT sub-families. Tissue expression analysis revealed that >70% of AlUGTs were primarily expressed in adult antennae, of which three (AlUGT33AD1, AlUGT40F6 and AlUGT40L4) and four (AlUGT33B18, AlUGT33F10, AlUGT40Q3 and AlUGT41D3) displayed male-biased and female-biased expression, respectively. Some AlUGTs, however, had higher expression levels in non-antennal tissues. Our study is the first to identify UGT genes in A. lepigone, which will help us to elucidate the diverse functions of these genes, and ultimately provide potential targets that will facilitate the development of efficient and environmentally friendly pesticides against A. lepigone. [Display omitted] •We first identified 23 AlUGTs of A. lepigone based on previous transcriptomic data.•Most AlUGTs were primarily expressed in the adult antennae.•Seven AlUGTs displayed male-biased or female-biased expression.•These AlUGTs provide potential targets to develop efficient and environmentally friendly pesticides against A. lepigone.