Identification and dynamic expression profiling of circadian clock genes in Spodoptera litura provide new insights into the regulation of sex pheromone communication

• Published in: Bulletin of entomological research Vol. 112; no. 1; pp. 78 - 90
• Main Authors: Xu, Ji-Wei, Li, Lu-Lu, Wang, Meng, Yang, Hui-Hui, Yao, Wei-Chen, Dewer, Youssef, Zhu, Xiu-Yun, Zhang, Ya-Nan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior; Biological clocks; Biosynthesis; Chemical communication; Circadian Clocks - genetics; Circadian rhythm; Circadian rhythms; Communication; Courtship; Crop damage; Economics; Females; Gene expression; Genes; Genomes; Humidity; Insecticides; Insects; Mating behavior; Nighttime; Nucleotide sequence; Perception; Pheromones; Phylogenetics; Physiology; Regulatory mechanisms (biology); Reproductive behaviour; Research methodology; Research Paper; Sex; Sex Attractants - metabolism; Sex pheromone; Spodoptera - physiology; Spodoptera litura; China; sex pheromone biosynthesis; sex pheromone perception; dynamic expression; Circadian clock genes; Spodoptera litura
• ISSN: 0007-4853; 1475-2670
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007485321000559

Spodoptera litura is an important pest that causes significant economic damage to numerous crops worldwide. Sex pheromones (SPs) mediate sexual communication in S. litura and show a characteristic degree of rhythmic activity, occurring mainly during the scotophase; however, the specific regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we employed a genome-wide analysis to identify eight candidate circadian clock genes in S. litura. Sequence characteristics and expression patterns were analyzed. Our results demonstrated that some circadian clock genes might regulate the biosynthesis and perception of SPs by regulating the rhythmic expression of SP biosynthesis-related genes and SP perception-related genes. Interestingly, all potential genes exhibited peak expression in the scotophase, consistent with the SP could mediate courtship and mating behavior in S. litura. Our findings are helpful in elucidating the molecular mechanism by which circadian clock genes regulate sexual communication in S. litura.