Transcriptional analysis of physiological pathways in a generalist herbivore: responses to different host plants and plant structures by the cotton bollworm (CBW) Helicoverpa armigera [DifferentHost]

Transcriptional profiling comparing gut tissue from fifth instar larvae exposed to six different diets, namely cotton fruit or boll (B), tobacco flower bud (TFB), bean pod (BP), chick pea fruit (CKPF), pinto bean-based artificial diet (PB) and wheat-based artificial Lepidoptera diet (BIO). The generalist lepidopteran herbivore Helicoverpa armigera can feed on more than 87 plant species belonging to 48 families. However, life table studies on different crops have revealed that cotton and corn are the most suitable hosts of this pest and tomato, hot pepper and tobacco are suboptimal. It is believed that generalists owe their success to the deployment of various members of multigene families of detoxicative and digestive enzymes, a strategy that may also be responsible for rapid evolution of insecticide resistance. However studies of generalist adaptations have been limited to specific genes or gene families, and an overview of how these adaptations are orchestrated at the transcriptional level is lacking. We compared the transcript profiles of larval guts in response to differentially suitable hosts and towards two different artificial diets commonly used for laboratory rearing of this species, using a two-color alternating loop design microarray experiment. Two-color alternating loop design. Biological replicates: 4 (10 individuals per replicate). 24 samples total.

本数据集为转录谱分析，比较了饲喂6种不同饲料的五龄幼虫肠道组织，6种饲料分别为棉桃（B）、烟草花蕾（TFB）、豆荚（BP）、鹰嘴豆荚（CKPF）、斑豆基人工饲料（PB）以及小麦基鳞翅目专用人工饲料（BIO）。
广食性鳞翅目植食性昆虫棉铃虫（Helicoverpa armigera）可取食隶属于48个科的87余种植物。然而，针对不同作物的生命表研究显示，棉花与玉米是该害虫最适宜的寄主，番茄、辣椒及烟草则为次适宜寄主。
学界普遍认为，广食性昆虫的生存优势源于其可激活解毒与消化酶多基因家族的不同成员，这一策略同样可能是其快速演化抗药性的原因。但目前针对广食性适应性的研究多局限于特定基因或基因家族，尚缺乏对这些适应性如何在转录水平被统筹调控的系统性概述。
本研究采用双色交替环型设计微阵列实验，比较了该昆虫幼虫肠道在不同适宜性寄主以及两种常用于该物种实验室饲养的人工饲料诱导下的转录谱。
双色交替环型设计。生物学重复数为4组（每组包含10头个体），总计24个样本。