Microarray analysis of gene expression profile in resistant and susceptible Bombyx mori strains reveals resistance-related genes to nucleopolyhedrovirus

To investigate the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV infection, we constructed a near-isogenic line (BC8) with BmNPV resistance using highly resistant (NB) and highly susceptible parental strains (306). We investigated variations in the gene expression in the midguts of BmNPV-infected BC8 and 306 at 12 h pi using the microarray. 92 differentially expressed genes were identified. Real-time qPCR analysis confirmed that 10 genes were significantly up-regulated or down-regulated in the midguts of BC8 and NB compared to 306. To our knowledge, we first defined the role of the amino acid transporter and 26S proteasome in insect antiviral. However, serine protease was not completely consistent with data of reported previously in insect antiviral. The role of the 5 genes (Bm123, Bm122, COP β′, aquaporin, glycoside hydrolases) was also demonstrated in insect antiviral. Our results provided new insights into the molecular mechanism of the Bombyx mori immune response against BmNPV infection.     

Transcriptome analysis of the response of silkworm to drastic changes in ambient temperature

Bombyx mori is a poikilothermic insect and is economically important for silk production. Drastic changes in the ambient temperature have a negative impact on sericulture. However, the reason as to why high temperature is associated with the occurrence of diseases in silkworm and the response of silkworm to low temperature remain unclear and were the focus of the present study. Dazao silkworm exposed to 13 °C (DZ-13), 25 °C (DZ-25), and 37 °C (DZ-37) were used for RNA-seq analysis. There were 478 and 194 upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in DZ-13 and DZ-37 while 49 and 273 downregulated DEGs in DZ-13 and DZ-37, respectively. Eight DEGs were co-upregulated, in which seven genes were for heat shock proteins (Hsps), implying that Hsps play important roles in the tolerance of silkworm to high and low temperature. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the developmental process was downregulated in DZ-13. All the DEGs in the oxidative phosphorylation and insulin signaling pathways were upregulated in DZ-13. Several cuticular proteins and ATP synthesis-related genes were upregulated in DZ-13, suggesting that thickening of the cuticle and increase in the ATPase expression would help silkworms to protect themselves from low temperature-induced stress. Several immune-related genes, such as BmRel and BmSerpin-2, were downregulated in DZ-37, revealing that the resistance of silkworm is decreased under high temperature shock resulting in susceptibility to pathogens. Thus, the increase in the thermo-tolerance of silkworm should be related to the enhancement in the pathogen resistance.

     

Transient propagation of BmLV and dysregulation of gene expression in nontarget cells following BmLV infection

Bombyx mori latent virus (BmLV), a novel positive-strand RNA virus was first identified in the B. mori cultured BmN cell line. Whether the infectivity of BmLV to silkworm larvae and non-silkworm cells is connected with dysregulation of gene expression are not well understood. A complete sequence of BmLV genomic RNA was identified and revealed that a fragment with 495 nt in length was deleted from the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene in some BmLV genomic RNAs. Studies on the infectivity of BmLV to nontarget cells showed that BmLV can infect silkworm larvae, Spodoptera frugiperda Sf-9 and H1299 lung cancer cells with transient propagation. The dysregulation of gene expression of Sf-9 cells followed by BmLV infection was analyzed. Out of 743 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 300 were upregulated and 443 were downregulated. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis indicated the DEGs were enriched into oxidoreductase activity for CH-NH₂ group donors, glutamate biosynthetic process, response to stress and proteasome core complex. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were mainly enriched into sulfur metabolism, RNA degradation, proteasome, pentose and glucuronate interconversions. Undesirable nutrients and temperature factors contributed to the propagation of BmLV in Sf-9 cells. Additionally, the Imd and RNAi pathways were activated by BmLV infection without stimulating Toll and JAK-STAT pathways. Therefore, it is suggested that BmLV is originated from plants, which can enter nontarget cells with transient propagation. The transient infection of BmLV may not only be regulated by Imd and RNAi immune pathways but also mediated by dysregulation of gene expression.     

Comparative proteomic analysis reveals that caspase-1 and serine protease may be involved in silkworm resistance to Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus

The silkworm Bombyx mori is of great economic value. The B. mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) is one of the most common and severe pathogens for silkworm. Although certain immune mechanisms exist in silkworms, most silkworms are still susceptible to BmNPV infection. Interestingly, BmNPV infection resistance in some silkworm strains is varied and naturally existing. We have previously established a silkworm strain NB by genetic cross, which is highly resistant to BmNPV invasion. To investigate the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV infection, we employed proteomic approach and genetic cross to globally identify proteins differentially expressed in parental silkworms NB and 306, a BmNPV-susceptible strain, and their F(1) hybrids. In all, 53 different proteins were found in direct cross group (NB♀, 306♂, F(1) hybrid) and 21 in reciprocal cross group (306♀, NB♂, F(1) hybrid). Gene ontology and KEGG pathway analyses showed that most of these different proteins are located in cytoplasm and are involved in many important metabolisms. Caspase-1 and serine protease expressed only in BmNPV-resistant silkworms, but not in BmNPV-susceptible silkworms, which was further confirmed by Western blot. Taken together, our data suggests that both caspase-1 and serine protease play a critical role in silkworm resistance against BmNPV infection.     

Proteomic analysis of nucleopolyhedrovirus infection resistance in the silkworm, Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae)

Silkworm hemolymph is an important defense tissue to resist bacteria and virus infections. To study the response of silkworm hemolymph in the resistance of Bombyx mori L. nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV), we constructed a near-isogenic silkworm line with BmNPV resistance using highly resistant and highly susceptible parental strains. In this paper, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI)-mass spectrometry were employed to investigate the differences of protein patterns in the hemolymph of the highly resistant, highly susceptible and near-isogenic silkworm strains after BmNPV was administrated to the larvae. A comparison between the proteomes of these three silkworm strains led us to identify two differentially expressed proteins, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase 2 and aminoacylase. The expression levels of these proteins were higher in the BmNPV resistant strains.     

Comparative transcriptome analysis of wing discs from Bombyx mori and Bombyx mandarina

The insect wing is developed from the wing imaginal disc which is designed from the embryonic ectoderm. To get insight into gene expression profiles in wing discs of Bombyx mori during metamorphosis, we compared the gene expression in the wing between B. mori and B. mandarina moth through RNA-seq. Out of total valid reads identified from the 5th day of 5th instar larvae of silkworm (L5), 7th day of pupae (P7), 1st day of moth (M1) and 1st day of wild silkworm moth (WM1), 20,092,004, 29,251,647, 24,654,695 and 19,753,089 reads were mapped to the mRNA reference sequences of silkworm, respectively. 9229, 7048, 9268 and 6701 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were respectively recorded in P7 vs L5, M1 vs P7, M1 vs L5 and WM1 vs M1. Further, the peroxisome, ribosome, endocytosis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways were significantly regulated in the metamorphosis of the silkworm. Our study identified 16 orthologous genes with a positive selection from M1, which might be subjected to artificial selection in the domestication of B. mori and would play vital roles in the flight of B. mandarina.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of the α-glucosidase II from Bombyx mori and Spodoptera frugiperda

The α-glucosidase II (GII) is a heterodimer of α- and β-subunits and important for N-glycosylation processing and quality control of nascent glycoproteins. Although high concentration of α-glucosidase inhibitors from mulberry leaves accumulate in silkworms (Bombyx mori) by feeding, silkworm does not show any toxic symptom against these inhibitors and N-glycosylation of recombinant proteins is not affected. We, therefore, hypothesized that silkworm GII is not sensitive to the α-glucosidase inhibitors from mulberry leaves. However, the genes for B. mori GII subunits have not yet been identified, and the protein has not been characterized. Therefore, we isolated the B. mori GII α- and β-subunit genes and the GII α-subunit gene of Spodoptera frugiperda, which does not feed on mulberry leaves. We used a baculovirus expression system to produce the recombinant GII subunits and identified their enzyme characteristics. The recombinant GII α-subunits of B. mori and S. frugiperda hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl α-d-glucopyranoside (pNP-αGlc) but were inactive toward N-glycan. Although the B. mori GII β-subunit was not required for the hydrolysis of pNP-αGlc, a B. mori GII complex of the α- and β-subunits was required for N-glycan cleavage. As hypothesized, the B. mori GII α-subunit protein was less sensitive to α-glucosidase inhibitors than was the S. frugiperda GII α-subunit protein. Our observations suggest that the low sensitivity of GII contributes to the ability of B. mori to evade the toxic effect of α-glucosidase inhibitors from mulberry leaves.     

Label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on Nile blue A-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for carcinoembryonic antigen detection

In this article, a novel, label-free, and inherent electroactive redox immunosensor for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and Nile blue A (NB) hybridized electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (NB–ERGO) is proposed. The composite of NB–graphene oxide (NB–GO) was prepared by π–π stacking interaction. Then, chronoamperometry was adopted to simultaneously reduce HAuCl₄ and nanocomposites of NB–GO for synthesizing AuNPs/NB–ERGO. The immunosensor was fabricated by capturing CEA antibody (anti-CEA) at this nanocomposite modified electrode. The immunosensor determination was based on the fact that, due to the formation of antigen–antibody immunocomplex, the decreased response currents of NB were directly proportional to the concentrations of CEA. Under optimal conditions, the linear range of the proposed immunosensor was estimated to be from 0.001 to 40 ng ml⁻¹ and the detection limit was estimated to be 0.00045 ng ml⁻¹. The proposed immunosensor was used to determine CEA in clinical serum samples with satisfactory results. The proposed method may provide promising potential application in clinical immunoassays with the properties of facile procedure, stability, high sensitivity, and selectivity.     

Differentially expressed genes in the ovary of the sixth day of pupal “Ming” lethal egg mutant of silkworm, Bombyx mori

The “Ming” lethal egg mutant (l-e^m) is a vitelline membrane mutant in silkworm, Bombyx mori. The eggs laid by the l-e^m mutant lose water, ultimately causing death within an hour. Previous studies have shown that the deletion of BmEP80 is responsible for the l-e^m mutation in silkworm, B. mori. In the current study, digital gene expression (DGE) was performed to investigate the difference of gene expression in ovaries between wild type and l-e^m mutant on the sixth day of the pupal stage to obtain a global view of gene expression profiles using the ovaries of three l-e^m mutants and three wild types. The results showed a total of 3,463,495 and 3,607,936 clean tags in the wild type and the l-e^m mutant libraries, respectively. Compared with those of wild type, 239 differentially expressed genes were detected in the l-e^m mutant, wherein 181 genes are up-regulated and 58 genes are down-regulated in the mutant strain. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis results showed that no pathway was significantly enriched and three pathways are tightly related to protein synthesis among the five leading pathways. Moreover, the expression profiles of eight important differentially expressed genes related to oogenesis changed. These results provide a comprehensive gene expression analysis of oogenesis and vitellogenesis in B. mori which facilitates understanding of both the specific molecular mechanism of the 1-e^m mutant and Lepidopteran oogenesis in general.     

感染球孢白僵菌的家蚕免疫应答差异表达基因分析

【目的】筛选家蚕Bombyx mori应对白僵菌Beauveria bassiana侵染的应答基因, 以进一步研究家蚕抵御真菌侵染的分子机制。【方法】采用新一代Solexa高通量测序技术对感染白僵菌及未感染白僵菌的对照组家蚕进行了测序分析, 筛选差异表达基因; 结合生物信息学工具分析差异表达基因的功能注释、 分类及涉及的信号通路等; 应用荧光定量PCR技术验证10个基因的差异表达。【结果】通过测序和生物信息学分析共获得377个差异表达基因, 其中表达上调基因236个, 下调基因141个; KEGG通路分析表明, 各通路中既有表达上调的基因, 也有下调基因; 12个上调基因、 26个下调基因参与3个显著性富集的KEGG通路, 即核糖体、 氨酰tRNA生物合成和剪接体通路。定量PCR与测序结果显示, 溶菌酶、 热激蛋白、 谷胱甘肽S-转移酶、 肽聚糖识别蛋白等与免疫应激相关的蛋白基因均呈现表达上调。【结论】本研究筛选获得的差异表达基因, 特别是上调表达的基因可能与家蚕应对白僵菌侵染的应答机制有关, 其中与免疫应激相关的蛋白基因如溶菌酶、 热激蛋白、 谷胱甘肽S 转移酶、 肽聚糖识别蛋白基因等可能直接参与了家蚕对白僵菌的免疫识别和防御, 研究结果为从分子水平阐明家蚕抵御真菌侵染的防御机制和白僵菌对家蚕的致病机理提供新的依据。     

Cloning and Characterization of Bombyx mori PP-BP a Gene Induced by Viral Infection

The ENF peptide family, so termed after the consensus sequence in their amino termini (Glu-Asn-Phe-), is assumed to play multiple important roles in defense reactions, growth regulation, and homeostasis of Lepidopteran insects. The paralytic peptide of Bombyx mori (BmPP) is one such peptide that is involved in the paralytic and plasmatocyte-spreading activities in the hemocyte immune reaction. The growth-blocking peptide of Pseudaletia separata (PsGBP), which is also a member of the ENF peptide family, has similar functions that can reportedly be attenuated by the growth-blocking peptide-binding protein (GBP-BP). Using the fluorescent differential display (FDD) technique, the differential expression pattern of genes in highly susceptible silkworm strain 306 were analyzed, following infection with B. mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV), and a differential band (G12₇₈₂) was obtained from the hemolymph RNA pools. Using 5′-RACE with a specially designed primer based on the FDD study, a 1 401 bp cDNA clone was obtained containing a 1 311 bp open reading frame (ORF, GenBank accession number DQ306881). The deduced protein was highly homologous in primary structure to GBP-BP and was termed B. mori paralytic peptide-binding protein (PP-BP). The B. mori PP-BP gene is organized into two exons and only one intron, using bioinformatics searches.Using RT-PCR analysis, it was found that the B. mori PP-BP gene was expressed almost exclusively in the hemolymph. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis indicated that the B. mori PP-BP mRNA level in B. mori strain 306 exposed to BmNPV was much higher than that in B. mori strain without the virus infection. This result implies that the B. mori PP-BP is related to the cellular immune response after BmNPV invades the hemolymph.     

Global Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes and Proteins in the Wheat Callus Infected by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation is an extremely complex and evolved process involving genetic determinants of both the bacteria and the host plant cells. However, the mechanism of the determinants remains obscure, especially in some cereal crops such as wheat, which is recalcitrant for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. In this study, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were analyzed in wheat callus cells co-cultured with Agrobacterium by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS). A set of 4,889 DEGs and 90 DEPs were identified, respectively. Most of them are related to metabolism, chromatin assembly or disassembly and immune defense. After comparative analysis, 24 of the 90 DEPs were detected in RNA-seq and proteomics datasets simultaneously. In addition, real-time RT-PCR experiments were performed to check the differential expression of the 24 genes, and the results were consistent with the RNA-seq data. According to gene ontology (GO) analysis, we found that a big part of these differentially expressed genes were related to the process of stress or immunity response. Several putative determinants and candidate effectors responsive to Agrobacterium mediated transformation of wheat cells were discussed. We speculate that some of these genes are possibly related to Agrobacterium infection. Our results will help to understand the interaction between Agrobacterium and host cells, and may facilitate developing efficient transformation strategies in cereal crops.     

Identification and characterization of an NPV infection-related gene Bmsop2 in Bombyx mori L.

Abstract:  Using the fluorescent differential display technique, we analysed the differential expression of genes related to Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) resistance. Silkworm strains studied included the highly resistant strain NB, highly susceptible strain 306 and near-isogenic line 306NNZZ. One novel gene was identified and named Bmsop2 for its high similarity with the Sop2 protein of other species. It was identified to be linked to BmNPV susceptibility by Northern blotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that it was actively expressed in midguts of strains 306, NB and the eighth generation of backcross (BC₈) of strain 306NNZZ which had been treated with BmNPV. But the expression level was low in the midguts of the control. In the mean time, the expression of Bmsop2 was the highest in strain 306 treated with BmNPV while it was the lowest in strain 306 not treated with BmNPV. Our study showed that Bmsop2 is a differentially expressed gene in strains NB, 306 and 306NNZZ which have different levels of resistance to BmNPV.