DataSheet1_Screening and identification of genes associated with flight muscle histolysis of the house cricket Acheta domesticus.ZIP

Introduction: Flight muscle histolysis, as an important survival strategy, is a widespread phenomenon in insects and facilitates adaptation to the external environment in various insect taxa. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying this phenomenon in Orthoptera remains unknown.
Methods: In this study, the flight muscle histolysis in the house cricket Acheta domesticus was investigated by transcriptomics and RNA interference.
Results: The results showed that flight muscle histolysis in A. domesticus was standard and peaked within 9 days after eclosion of adult crickets, and there was no significant difference in the peak time or morphology of flight muscle histolysis between males and females. In addition, the differentially expressed genes between before and after flight muscle histolysis were studied, of which AdomFABP, AdomTroponin T and AdomActin were identified as candidate genes, and after injecting the dsRNA of these three candidates, only the downregulated expression of AdomFABP led to flight muscle histolysis in A. domesticus. Furthermore, the expression level of AdomFABP was compared between before and after flight muscle histolysis based on RT-qPCR.
Disscussion: We speculated that AdomFABP might play a role in the degradation of flight muscle by inhibiting muscle development. Our findings laid a molecular foundation for understanding the flight muscle histolysis.

引言：飞行肌肉组织溶解作为一类重要的生存策略，广泛存在于昆虫类群中，有助于多种昆虫适应外界环境。然而，直翅目昆虫中该现象的调控机制目前仍不明晰。方法：本研究采用转录组学（Transcriptomics）与RNA干扰（RNA interference, RNAi）技术，对家蟋蟀（Acheta domesticus）的飞行肌肉组织溶解过程开展研究。结果：研究结果显示，家蟋蟀的飞行肌肉组织溶解进程具有典型特征，其溶解峰值出现在成虫羽化后9天内，且雌雄个体间的飞行肌肉组织溶解峰值时间与形态均无显著差异。此外，本研究对飞行肌肉组织溶解前后的差异表达基因进行了筛选，鉴定出AdomFABP、AdomTroponin T与AdomActin作为候选基因；向试虫注射这三个候选基因的双链RNA（dsRNA, double-stranded RNA）后，仅AdomFABP的表达下调即可诱导家蟋蟀发生飞行肌肉组织溶解。进一步通过实时定量反转录聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction）比较了飞行肌肉组织溶解前后AdomFABP的表达水平差异。讨论：本研究推测AdomFABP可能通过抑制肌肉发育过程参与飞行肌肉的降解调控。本研究成果为解析昆虫飞行肌肉组织溶解的分子机制奠定了重要基础。