关键词: 灰飞虱, bursicon, 序列分析, 同源性分析, 基因表达, 实时荧光定量PCR

Abstract: Bursicon plays a vital role in insect molting sclerosis, as it regulates cuticle sclerotization (hardening and tanning) via a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). To study the function of bursicon in the small brown planthopper (SBPH), Laodelphax striatellus, the full-length sequences of bursicon α and bursicon β were amplified by RT-PCR and RACE, and were designated as Lsburs-α and Lsburs-β, respectively. The products are 1 126 bp and 761 bp in length for Lsburs-α and Lsburs-β, respectively. Lsburs-α contains a 483 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein with 160 amino acid residues, which has two N-myristoylation sites, three casein kinase Ⅱ phosphorylation sites and two protein kinase C phosphorylation sites. Lsburs-β contains a 417 bp ORF encoding a protein with 138 amino acid residues, which has two N-myristoylation sites, three casein kinase Ⅱ phosphorylation sites and one tyrosine kinase phosphorylation site. Real-time quantitative PCR results showed that the transcripts of Lsburs-α and Lsburs-β were detectable in all the nymphal stages of L. striatellus, increased with the nymphal stages, reached the highest level in the emerging period, and then decreased after adult eclosion. The results suggest that bursicon closely relates to cuticle sclerotization in L. striatellus after molting. The results lay a solid foundation for the further study of bursicon’s functions, receptor regulation, signal pathway and so on.

Key words: Laodelphax striatellus, bursicon, sequence analysis, homology analysis, gene expression, Real-time quantitative PCR