Affiliation:
1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Université de Moncton, 18 Antonine-Maillet Avenue, Moncton, New Brunswick, E1A 3E9, Canada
2. Fredericton Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Road, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 4Z7, Canada
Abstract
Abstract
The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)) is an insect that can adapt to various challenges, including temperature fluctuations or select insecticide treatments. This pest is also an ongoing threat to the potato industry. Small noncoding RNAs such as miRNAs, which can control posttranscriptionally the expression of various genes, and piRNAs, which can notably impact mRNA turnover, are modulated in insects under different conditions. Unfortunately, information regarding the expression status of key players involved in their synthesis and function is for the most part lacking. The current study thus aims at assessing the levels of such targets in L. decemlineata exposed to hot and cold temperatures as well as treated to the insecticides chlorantraniliprole, clothianidin, imidacloprid, and spinosad. Transcript expression levels of Ago1, Ago2, Ago3, Dcr2a, Dcr2b, Expo-5, Siwi-1, and Siwi-2, components of pathways associated with small noncoding RNA production or function, were measured by qRT-PCR and revealed modulation of select transcripts in response to temperature challenges and to select insecticides. RNAi-mediated reduction of Ago2 transcript levels in L. decemlineata injected with Ago2-targeting dsRNA and exposed to cold and warm temperatures was also conducted. Changes in survival rates were observed for the latter condition in dsRNA- versus saline-injected insects. These results showcase the differential expression of select targets involved in small noncoding RNA homeostasis and provide leads for the subsequent assessment of their involvement during stress response in L. decemlineata using RNAi-based approaches.
Funder
Enabling Agricultural and Research Innovation
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
New Brunswick Innovation Foundation
Canadian Horticultural Council – Agri-Science Cluster for Horticulture
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Insect Science,General Medicine