A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) drive the post-transcriptional repression of target mRNAs and play important roles in a variety of biological processes. miR-2766-3p is conserved and abundant in Lepidopteran species and may be involved in a variety of biological activities. In this study, Sex-miR-2766-3p was pred...
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/11/1075 |
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| author | Yayun Zuo Zeyu Wang Xuan Ren Yakun Pei Ahmed A. A. Aioub Zhaonong Hu |
| author_facet | Yayun Zuo Zeyu Wang Xuan Ren Yakun Pei Ahmed A. A. Aioub Zhaonong Hu |
| author_sort | Yayun Zuo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | MicroRNAs (miRNAs) drive the post-transcriptional repression of target mRNAs and play important roles in a variety of biological processes. miR-2766-3p is conserved and abundant in Lepidopteran species and may be involved in a variety of biological activities. In this study, Sex-miR-2766-3p was predicted to potentially bind to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of cap ‘n’ collar isoform C (CncC) in <i>Spodoptera exigua</i>, and Sex-miR-2766-3p was confirmed to regulate the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> through screening with a luciferase reporter system. Although CRISPR/Cas9 has been extensively utilized to examine insect gene function, studies of miRNA function are still relatively uncommon. Thus, we employed CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out Sex-miR-2766-3p from <i>S. exigua</i>. However, the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> was not significantly altered in the knockout strain (2766-KO) compared with that of the WHS strain. This result suggested that a miRNA knockout might lack phenotypes because of genetic robustness. Additionally, we used transcriptome analysis to examine how the global gene expression patterns of the Sex-miR-2766-3p knockout strain varied. RNA-seq data revealed 1746 upregulated and 2183 downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the 2766-KO strain, which might be the result of Sex-miR-2766-3p loss or DNA lesions as the trigger for transcriptional adaptation. GO function classification and KEGG pathway analyses showed that these DEGs were enriched for terms related to binding, catalytic activity, metabolic process, and signal transduction. Our findings demonstrated that <i>S. exigua</i> could compensate for the missing Sex-miR-2766-3p by maintaining the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> by other pathways. |
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| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:16:16Z |
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| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe40b172563944b69925ccfd0b19d3872023-11-24T08:46:33ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502022-11-011311107510.3390/insects13111075A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)Yayun Zuo0Zeyu Wang1Xuan Ren2Yakun Pei3Ahmed A. A. Aioub4Zhaonong Hu5Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaInstitute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaInstitute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaInstitute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaPlant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, EgyptInstitute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaMicroRNAs (miRNAs) drive the post-transcriptional repression of target mRNAs and play important roles in a variety of biological processes. miR-2766-3p is conserved and abundant in Lepidopteran species and may be involved in a variety of biological activities. In this study, Sex-miR-2766-3p was predicted to potentially bind to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of cap ‘n’ collar isoform C (CncC) in <i>Spodoptera exigua</i>, and Sex-miR-2766-3p was confirmed to regulate the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> through screening with a luciferase reporter system. Although CRISPR/Cas9 has been extensively utilized to examine insect gene function, studies of miRNA function are still relatively uncommon. Thus, we employed CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out Sex-miR-2766-3p from <i>S. exigua</i>. However, the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> was not significantly altered in the knockout strain (2766-KO) compared with that of the WHS strain. This result suggested that a miRNA knockout might lack phenotypes because of genetic robustness. Additionally, we used transcriptome analysis to examine how the global gene expression patterns of the Sex-miR-2766-3p knockout strain varied. RNA-seq data revealed 1746 upregulated and 2183 downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the 2766-KO strain, which might be the result of Sex-miR-2766-3p loss or DNA lesions as the trigger for transcriptional adaptation. GO function classification and KEGG pathway analyses showed that these DEGs were enriched for terms related to binding, catalytic activity, metabolic process, and signal transduction. Our findings demonstrated that <i>S. exigua</i> could compensate for the missing Sex-miR-2766-3p by maintaining the expression of <i>SeCncC</i> by other pathways.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/11/1075microRNA<i>CncC</i>CRISPR/Cas9beet armywormgenetic robustness |
| spellingShingle | Yayun Zuo Zeyu Wang Xuan Ren Yakun Pei Ahmed A. A. Aioub Zhaonong Hu A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Insects microRNA <i>CncC</i> CRISPR/Cas9 beet armyworm genetic robustness |
| title | A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
| title_full | A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
| title_fullStr | A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
| title_short | A Genetic Compensation Phenomenon and Global Gene Expression Changes in Sex-miR-2766-3p Knockout Strain of <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) |
| title_sort | genetic compensation phenomenon and global gene expression changes in sex mir 2766 3p knockout strain of i spodoptera exigua i hubner lepidoptera noctuidae |
| topic | microRNA <i>CncC</i> CRISPR/Cas9 beet armyworm genetic robustness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/11/1075 |
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