TY - JOUR

T1 - Comparative transcriptome analysis of false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta in response to high and low-temperature treatments

AU - Mwando, Nelson L.

AU - Khamis, Fathiya M.

AU - Ndlela, Shepard

AU - Meyhöfer, Rainer

AU - Ombura, Fidelis L.O.

AU - Wamalwa, Mark

AU - Subramanian, Sevgan

AU - Mohamed, Samira A.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the following organizations and agencies: BioInnovate Africa , grant no. BA-C1-2017-06_icipe ; the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation , the section for Research, Innovation, and Higher Education grant no . RAF-3058 KEN-18/0005 ; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ; and the Government of the Republic of Kenya . The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the donors. We also thank Maureen Ong'onge and icipe's African Fruit Fly Programme (AFFP) staff for their technical assistance.

PY - 2024/2/1

Y1 - 2024/2/1

N2 - The false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta, is a major quarantine pest native to Africa. Physical postharvest phytosanitary measures such as cold and heat treatments are championed to control its spread to new regions. However, the molecular changes that T. leucotreta undergoes as it attempts to adjust to its surroundings during the treatments and withstand the extreme temperatures remain largely unknown. The current study employs RNA-seq using the next-generation Illumina HiSeq platform to produce transcriptome profiles for differential gene expression analysis of T. leucotreta larvae under thermal stress. The transcriptome assembly analysis revealed 226,067 transcripts, clustering into 127,018 unigenes. In comparison to the 25 °C treated group, 874, 91, 159, and 754 individual differentially expressed genes (DEGs) co-regulated at −10, 0, 40, and 50 °C, respectively were discovered. Annotation of the DEGs by gene ontology (GO) revealed several genes, previously implicated in low and high-temperature stresses, including heat shock proteins, cytochrome P450, cuticle proteins, odorant binding proteins, and immune system genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomics (KEGG) classification analysis revealed that substantive DEGs were those involved in metabolic pathways such as thiamine, purine, folate, and glycerolipid metabolism pathways. The RT-qPCR validation of several significantly up- and down-regulated DEGs showed congruence between RNA-seq and qPCR data. This baseline study lays a foundation for future research into the molecular mechanisms underlying T. leucotreta's cold/heat tolerance by providing a thorough differential gene expression analysis that has identified multiple genes that may be associated with the insect's ability to withstand cold and heat.

AB - The false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta, is a major quarantine pest native to Africa. Physical postharvest phytosanitary measures such as cold and heat treatments are championed to control its spread to new regions. However, the molecular changes that T. leucotreta undergoes as it attempts to adjust to its surroundings during the treatments and withstand the extreme temperatures remain largely unknown. The current study employs RNA-seq using the next-generation Illumina HiSeq platform to produce transcriptome profiles for differential gene expression analysis of T. leucotreta larvae under thermal stress. The transcriptome assembly analysis revealed 226,067 transcripts, clustering into 127,018 unigenes. In comparison to the 25 °C treated group, 874, 91, 159, and 754 individual differentially expressed genes (DEGs) co-regulated at −10, 0, 40, and 50 °C, respectively were discovered. Annotation of the DEGs by gene ontology (GO) revealed several genes, previously implicated in low and high-temperature stresses, including heat shock proteins, cytochrome P450, cuticle proteins, odorant binding proteins, and immune system genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomics (KEGG) classification analysis revealed that substantive DEGs were those involved in metabolic pathways such as thiamine, purine, folate, and glycerolipid metabolism pathways. The RT-qPCR validation of several significantly up- and down-regulated DEGs showed congruence between RNA-seq and qPCR data. This baseline study lays a foundation for future research into the molecular mechanisms underlying T. leucotreta's cold/heat tolerance by providing a thorough differential gene expression analysis that has identified multiple genes that may be associated with the insect's ability to withstand cold and heat.

KW - Gene ontology

KW - High-throughput sequencing

KW - Quarantine treatment

KW - RT-qPCR

KW - Thermotolerance

KW - Transcriptome

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183993170&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.cbd.2024.101199

DO - 10.1016/j.cbd.2024.101199

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85183993170

VL - 50

JO - Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and Proteomics

JF - Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and Proteomics

SN - 1744-117X

M1 - 101199

ER -