AUTHOR=Miao Lijun , Zhang Nan , Jiang Heng , Dong Fan , Yang Xuemei , Xu Xin , Qian Kun , Meng Xiangkun , Wang Jianjun 

TITLE=Involvement of Two Paralogous Methoprene-Tolerant Genes in the Regulation of Vitellogenin and Vitellogenin Receptor Expression in the Rice Stem Borer, Chilo suppressalis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00609

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2020.00609

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Besides the function of preventing metamorphosis in insects, the juvenile hormone (JH) plays a role in female reproduction; however, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. The methoprene-tolerant (Met) protein belongs to a family of basic helix-loop-helix–Per-Arnt-Sim (bHLH-PAS) transcription factors and functions as the JH intracellular receptor. In this study, two full length cDNAs encoding <italic>Met</italic> (<italic>CsMet1</italic> and <italic>CsMet2</italic>) were isolated from the rice stem borer, <italic>Chilo suppressalis.</italic> Structural analysis revealed that both <italic>CsMet1</italic> and <italic>CsMet2</italic> exhibited typical bHLH, PAS-A, PAS-B, and PAC (PAS C terminal motif) domains. Comparative analysis of transcript level using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) revealed that <italic>CsMet1</italic> was predominant in almost all examined developmental stages and tissues. Treatment with methoprene <italic>in vivo</italic> induces the transcription of both <italic>CsMet1</italic> and <italic>CsMet2.</italic> Notably, injection of dsCsMet1 and dsCsMet2 suppressed the expression levels of vitellogenin (<italic>CsVg</italic>) and Vg receptor (<italic>CsVgR</italic>). These findings revealed the potential JH signaling mechanism regulating <italic>C. suppressalis</italic> reproduction, and provided evidence that RNAi-mediated knockdown of <italic>Met</italic> holds great potential as a control strategy of <italic>C. suppressalis.</italic></p>