Abstract: 【Aim】 Apoptosis is an active process that cells kill themselves automatically, and it is also referred to as programmed cell death (PCD). Head involution defective (hid) belongs to the RHG gene family whose members are primary regulators of PCD in insects due to their antagonistic effect on inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs).The aim of this study was to explore the expression pattern of hid in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis at different developmental stages. 【Methods】 The full-length cDNA of hid was cloned by RT-PCR and RACE from B. dorsalis. The transcriptional level was analyzed by realtime quantitative PCR. 【Results】 The full-length cDNA sequence of hid from B. dorsalis was cloned, which was named as Bdhid (GenBank accession number: KJ461670), with a 1 029 bp open reading frame encoding 342 amino acids. It has the N-terminal IAP-binding-motif (IBM) and the C-terminal Grim Helix 3 motif (GH3) in its amino acid sequence, exhibiting high conservation with the known hid genes from other dipterans. The mRNA expression level of Bdhid was low in larvae and relatively higher in pupae and adults. 【Conclusion】 The results provide a foundation for further research of hid in insect apoptosis and for the development of conditional lethality strains by transgenic approaches.

Key words: Bactrocera dorsalis, apoptosis gene, molecular cloning, sequence analysis, real-time quantitative PCR