Project description:Survey of relative gene expression profiles in larvae, pupae, and midguts and fatbodies of teneral, unfed, and fed adult mountain pine beetles from western Nevada, USA.
Project description:Survey of relative gene expression profiles in larvae, pupae, and midguts and fatbodies of teneral, unfed, and fed adult mountain pine beetles from western Nevada, USA. Array prepared on 4-tile chips (4-plex custom arrays), each feature represented by six different oligonucleotides, three replicate blocks/tile, hybridized with total RNA from 11 samples, each replicated four times. Vector (pDONR222) and two plant sequences included as negative controls.
Project description:The present project deals with bark beetle gut total proteome from callow and black bark beetle, Ips typographus. The study aims to identify life stage-specific expression of gut proteins in bark beetles and their functional relevance.
Project description:Plants possess various defense strategies to counter attacks from microorganisms or herbivores. For example, plants reduce the cell-wall-macerating activity of pathogen- or insect-derived polygalacturonases (PGs) by expressing PG-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs). PGs and PGIPs belong to multi-gene families believed to have been shaped by an evolutionary arms race. The mustard leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae expresses both active PGs and catalytically inactive PG pseudoenzymes. Previous studies demonstrated that (i) PGIPs target beetle PGs and (ii) the role of PG pseudoenzymes remains elusive, despite having been linked to the pectin degradation pathway. For further insight into the interaction between plant PGIPs and beetle PG family members, we combined affinity purification with proteomics and gene expression analyses, and identified novel inhibitors of beetle PGs from Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). A beetle PG pseudoenzyme was not targeted by PGIPs, but instead interacted with PGIP-like proteins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that PGIP-like proteins clustered apart from classical PGIPs but together with proteins, which have been involved in developmental processes. Our results indicate that PGIP-like proteins represent not only interesting novel PG inhibitor candidates in addition to classical PGIPs, but also fascinating new players in the arms race between herbivorous beetles and plant defenses.
Project description:16S amplicon pool analyses of the four gut sections of the wood-feeding beetle, Odontotaenius disjunctus The beetle is purely wood feeding, and we aim to first characterize the community that exist within the gut sections 4 beetles, four gut sections per beetle, one PhyloChip per gut section, total = 16 chips
Project description:The expression of stress-related genes induced by feeding of chestnut moth larvae (Conistra vaccinii L.) was studied with Vitreoscilla hemoglobin-expressing (VHb) and non-transgenic hybrid aspen lines (Populus tremula x P. tremuloides). Besides the herbivore-injured leaves (L1), cDNA microarray analyses were conducted using uninjured leaves of hybrid aspen lines positioned above (A) and below (B) the herbivory exposed leaves. Two-condition experiment, control vs. herbivory exposure. Two hybrid aspen lines: non-transgenic V617 and VHb expressing V617 /45. Of each plant, three leaf types were analysed: the injured/uninjured leaf (L1) and nonorthostichous leaf positioned above (A) and below (B). Biological replicates: 3. On each array, two samples representing L1, A or B leaf type of control and herbivory treatment of either V617 or V617/45 line. line V617: wt_A_rep1-3, wt_B_rep1-3, wt_L1_rep1-3 line V617/45: VHb_A_rep1-3, VHb_B_rep1-3, VHb_L1_rep1-3 leaf type A: wt_A_rep1-3, VHb_A_rep1-3 leaf type B: wt_B_rep1-3, VHb_B_rep1-4 leaf type L1: wt_L1_rep1-3, VHb_L1_rep1-5
Project description:Understanding how novel complex traits originate is a foundational challenge in evolutionary biology. Yet how descent with modification in developmental evolution may lead to morphological innovation remains poorly understood. We investigated the origin of thoracic horns in scarabaeine beetles, one of the most dramatic classes of secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom. We show that thoracic horns derive from bilateral source tissues, that diverse wing genes are functionally required for instructing this process, and that in the absence of Hox-input thoracic horn primordia transform to contribute to ectopic wings. Once induced, however, the transcriptional profile of thoracic horns diverges markedly from that of wings and other wing serial homologs. Our results provide evidence for the serial homology between thoracic horns and insects wings, and suggest that other insect innovations may similarly derive from wing serial homologs and the concomitant recruitment of diverse genes from outside a wing formation context.