Structure and expression of sulfatase and sulfatase modifying factor genes in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella

• Published in: Insect science 2018-12, Vol.25 (6), p.946-958
• Main Authors: Ma, Xiao‐Li, He, Wei‐Yi, Chen, Wei, Xu, Xue‐Jiao, Qi, Wei‐Ping, Zou, Ming‐Min, You, Yan‐Chun, Baxter, Simon W., Wang, Ping, You, Min‐Sheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Biological evolution; Butterflies & moths; Conserved Sequence; evolutionary arms race; Fruit flies; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Genes; Genomes; glucosinolate detoxification; glucosinolate sulfatase; Insect Proteins - chemistry; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insect Proteins - metabolism; Insects; Larvae; Midgut; Moths - enzymology; Moths - metabolism; Organ Specificity; phylogenetic analysis; Phylogeny; Plutella xylostella; Polymerase chain reaction; Protein Domains; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Sulfatases - chemistry; Sulfatases - genetics; Sulfatases - metabolism; transcriptome analysis
• ISSN: 1672-9609; 1744-7917
• DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12487

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), uses sulfatases (SULF) to counteract the glucosinolate–myrosinase defensive system that cruciferous plants have evolved to deter insect feeding. Sulfatase activity is regulated by post‐translational modification of a cysteine residue by sulfatase modifying factor 1 (SUMF1). We identified 12 SULF genes (PxylSulfs) and two SUMF1 genes (PxylSumf1s) in the P. xylostella genome. Phylogenetic analysis of SULFs and SUMFs from P. xylostella, Bombyx mori, Manduca sexta, Heliconius melpomene, Danaus plexippus, Drosophila melanogaster, Tetranychus urticae and Homo sapiens showed that the SULFs were clustered into five groups, and the SUMFs could be divided into two groups. Profiling of the expression of PxylSulfs and PxylSumfs by RNA‐seq and by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction showed that two glucosinolate sulfatase genes (GSS), PxylSulf2 and PxylSulf3, were primarily expressed in the midgut of 3rd‐ and 4th‐instar larvae. Moreover, expression of sulfatases PxylSulf2, PxylSulf3 and PxylSulf4 were correlated with expression of the sulfatases modifying factor PxylSumf1a. The findings from this study provide new insights into the structure and expression of SUMF1 and PxylSulf genes that are considered to be key factors for the evolutionary success of P. xylostella as a specialist herbivore of cruciferous plants.