A transcriptome-wide inventory of neuropeptide GPCRs in the sunn pest Eurygaster integriceps

عنوان دوره: دومین کنگره بین المللی حشره شناسی ایران

The Sunn pest is the most important pest of wheat and barley in the Middle East which threat food security and reduce agricultural systems sustainability. The control of sunn pest relies mainly on the use of chemical insecticides and more than two million hectares of cereal growing areas in Iran were sprayed with chemical insecticides against this pest. In the search for a more specific alternative approach to chemical pesticide, insect neuropeptides have been suggested as ideal candidates. The neuropeptides play a central role in the control of insect physiological processes in which ligands bind to their corresponding receptors including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). To identify the genes encoding putative GPCRs in sunn pest, the total RNA was extracted by a column based protocol RNeasy mini kit from adult whole body during spring. In the current survey, we undertook an NGS approach using HiSeq2500 (Illumina) platform to analyze the transcriptome of E. integriceps with focusing on neuropeptide GPCRs. A total of 60 putative GPCR genes were identified and subsequently phylogenetic analysis showed most of them to be closely related to insect GPCRs. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using Mega 7 for neuropeptide GPCRs Eurygaster, Hyalomorpha, Drosophia and other insect based on the predicted amino acid sequences. Of these GPCRs, 49 belonged to the A-family, 8 belonged to the B-family, and 3 belonged to the LGRs. The network analysis of sunn pest transcriptome showed that 313, 92, 69, and 56 genes involved in transmembrane transport, signal transduction, G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway, transmembrane transporter activity, respectfully. The current transcriptional sequences of sunn pest seem to cover most of the genes for insect neuropeptides GPCRs except for those genes that are not active during active feeding phase of this insect. Our findings demonstrate the power of RNA-seq as a tool for analyzing the neuropeptide-related genes in the absence of whole genome sequence information. Altogether, the information of the current study could significantly pave the way towards bio-rational insecticide production

G protein coupled receptor؛ Neuropeptide signaling؛ Transcriptome؛ Eurygaster integriceps