Spatio-Temporal Profiling of <i>Metarhizium anisopliae</i>—Responsive microRNAs Involved in Modulation of <i>Plutella xylostella</i> Immunity and Development
<i>Metarhizium anisopliae</i>, a ubiquitous pathogenic fungus, regulates a wide array of the insect pest population. The fungus has been employed to control <i>Plutella xylostella</i>, an insecticide-resistant destructive lepidopteran pest, which causes substantial economic l...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/5703de44d8924f318294109d3e67fc33 |
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| Sumario: | <i>Metarhizium anisopliae</i>, a ubiquitous pathogenic fungus, regulates a wide array of the insect pest population. The fungus has been employed to control <i>Plutella xylostella</i>, an insecticide-resistant destructive lepidopteran pest, which causes substantial economic losses in crops worldwide. Integration of modern gene-silencing technologies in pest control strategies has become more crucial to counter pesticide-resistant insects. MicroRNAs (miRNA) play essential roles in the various biological process via post-transcriptional gene regulation. In the present study, RNA-seq analysis of control (CK36h, CK72h) and fungal-infected (T36h, T72h) midguts was performed to reveal underlying molecular mechanisms occurring in larval midgut at different time courses. We aimed at exploring <i>M. anisopliae</i>-responsive miRNAs and their target genes involved in development and immunity. After data filtration, a combined set of 170 miRNAs were identified from all libraries. Interestingly, miR-281, miR-263, miR-1, miR-6094 and miR-8 were listed among the most abundantly expressed conserved miRNAs. Furthermore, we experimentally studied the role of differentially expressed miR-11912-5p in regulating corresponding target trypsin-like serine proteinase (<i>Px_TLSP</i>). The luciferase assay (in vitro) revealed that miRNA-11912-5p significantly downregulated its target gene, suggesting it might play a crucial role in defense mechanism of <i>P. xylostella</i> against <i>M.+ anisopliae</i> infection. We used synthetic miRNA mimic/inhibitor (in vivo), to overexpress/silence miRNA, which showed harmful effects on larval duration, survival and adult fecundity. Additionally, fungal application in the presence of mimics revealed enhanced sensitivity of <i>P. xylostella</i> to infection. Our finding provides an insight into the relatively obscure molecular mechanisms involved in insect midgut during the fungal infection. |
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