Open Access

ARTICLE

Transcriptome profile analysis of the accompanying migratory parasitic wasp Aenasius bambawalei (= Aenasius arizonensis girault) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae): Genes related to fertilization involved at different stage of ovary development

by JUAN ZHANG², JUN HUANG^3,*, YAYUAN TANG², XIUZHEN LONG¹

1Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biology for Crop Diseases and Insect Pests, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, 530007, China
2Zhejiang Institute of Landscape Plants and Flowers, Zhejiang Xiaoshan Institute of Cotton & Bast Fiber Crops, Hangzhou, 311251, China
3State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China

* Corresponding Author: Jun Huang,

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Reproductive Health and Embryonic Development)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(1), 195-205. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.016563

Received 23 March 2021; Accepted 06 May 2021; Issue published 28 September 2021

Abstract

Age-related declines in fertilization success have been reported for a wide range of species. The fertilization of parasitic wasps is closely related to egg production and sperm storage. Aenasius bambawalei (Hymenoptera: Encyridae) is a key parasitic wasp of the important invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). The female offspring ratio of this parasitic wasp was declined with parental age in mass rearing under laboratory conditions. To investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in the reproduction of A. bambawalei, an extensive analysis of the impact of age on transcriptome profile of mated ovaries of this wasp was performed by comparing the gene expression profiles of various maternal ages: the early stage (ES), the intermediate stage (IS), and the advanced stage (AS). In total, 358 differentially expressed genes were identified, with 17.60% (63 genes) of the changes associated with greater expression in fertilization. Moreover, the expression of serine protease 47 precursor, serine protease inhibitor 3/4, glucose dehydrogenase, fatty acyl-CoA reductase 1-like, major royal jelly, and acyl-CoA delta (11) desaturase-like was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative (RT-qPCR). The results showed that fertilization related genes exhibited a stage-specific pattern. Egg production and sperm storage genes in A. bambawalei were significantly modified in the transcriptome, providing a starting point for the genetic dissection of fertilization.

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