Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Abstract Background Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Coccinellidae) is widely utilized as biological control agents in modern agriculture. A comprehensive understanding of its food preference can help guide mass rearing and safety management during field application of pest control. Although some studies...

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Main Authors: Yuqi Liu, Xinhui Xia, Wenxu Ren, Xiyao Hong, Xuefei Tang, Hong Pang, Yuchen Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-10-01
Series:BMC Genomics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10870-6
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author Yuqi Liu
Xinhui Xia
Wenxu Ren
Xiyao Hong
Xuefei Tang
Hong Pang
Yuchen Yang
author_facet Yuqi Liu
Xinhui Xia
Wenxu Ren
Xiyao Hong
Xuefei Tang
Hong Pang
Yuchen Yang
author_sort Yuqi Liu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Coccinellidae) is widely utilized as biological control agents in modern agriculture. A comprehensive understanding of its food preference can help guide mass rearing and safety management during field application of pest control. Although some studies have paid attentions to the impacts of prey shift on C. montrouzieri, little is known regarding the role of post-transcriptional regulations in its acclimation to unnatural preys. Results We performed a genome-wide investigation on alternative splicing dynamics in C. montrouzieri in response to the predation transition from natural prey to unnatural ones. When feeding on undesired diets, 402–764 genes were differentially alternative spliced in C. montrouzieri. It is noteworthy that the majority of these genes (> 87%) were not differentially expressed, and these differentially spliced genes regulated distinct biological processes from differentially expressed genes, such as organ development and morphogenesis, locomotory behavior, and homeostasis processes. These suggested the functionally nonredendant role of alternative splicing in modulating physiological and metabolic responses of C. montrouzieri to the shift to undesired preys. In addition, the individuals feeding on aphids were subject to a lower level of changes in splicing than other alternative diets, which might be because of the similar chemical and microbial compositions. Our study further suggested a putative coupling of alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated decay (AS-NMD), which may play an important role in fine-tuning the protein repertoire of C. montrouzieri, and promoting its acclimation to predation changes. Conclusion These findings highlight the key role of alternative splicing in modulating the acclimation of ladybirds to prey shift and provide new genetic clues for the future application of ladybirds in biocontrol.
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spelling doaj-art-9a1a9fecf4a545dfb99afbe04601541b2025-08-20T02:17:41ZengBMCBMC Genomics1471-21642024-10-0125111110.1186/s12864-024-10870-6Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieriYuqi Liu0Xinhui Xia1Wenxu Ren2Xiyao Hong3Xuefei Tang4Hong Pang5Yuchen Yang6School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Life Science, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversitySchool of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityAbstract Background Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Coccinellidae) is widely utilized as biological control agents in modern agriculture. A comprehensive understanding of its food preference can help guide mass rearing and safety management during field application of pest control. Although some studies have paid attentions to the impacts of prey shift on C. montrouzieri, little is known regarding the role of post-transcriptional regulations in its acclimation to unnatural preys. Results We performed a genome-wide investigation on alternative splicing dynamics in C. montrouzieri in response to the predation transition from natural prey to unnatural ones. When feeding on undesired diets, 402–764 genes were differentially alternative spliced in C. montrouzieri. It is noteworthy that the majority of these genes (> 87%) were not differentially expressed, and these differentially spliced genes regulated distinct biological processes from differentially expressed genes, such as organ development and morphogenesis, locomotory behavior, and homeostasis processes. These suggested the functionally nonredendant role of alternative splicing in modulating physiological and metabolic responses of C. montrouzieri to the shift to undesired preys. In addition, the individuals feeding on aphids were subject to a lower level of changes in splicing than other alternative diets, which might be because of the similar chemical and microbial compositions. Our study further suggested a putative coupling of alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated decay (AS-NMD), which may play an important role in fine-tuning the protein repertoire of C. montrouzieri, and promoting its acclimation to predation changes. Conclusion These findings highlight the key role of alternative splicing in modulating the acclimation of ladybirds to prey shift and provide new genetic clues for the future application of ladybirds in biocontrol.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10870-6Alternative splicingBiological controlFood preferenceFunctional nonredundancyLadybirdsPost-transcirptional regulation
spellingShingle Yuqi Liu
Xinhui Xia
Wenxu Ren
Xiyao Hong
Xuefei Tang
Hong Pang
Yuchen Yang
Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
BMC Genomics
Alternative splicing
Biological control
Food preference
Functional nonredundancy
Ladybirds
Post-transcirptional regulation
title Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
title_full Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
title_fullStr Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
title_full_unstemmed Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
title_short Alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
title_sort alternative splicing perspective to prey preference of environmentally friendly biological agent cryptolaemus montrouzieri
topic Alternative splicing
Biological control
Food preference
Functional nonredundancy
Ladybirds
Post-transcirptional regulation
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10870-6
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