ABSTRACT
Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are a group of small soluble proteins found so far exclusively in arthropod species. These proteins act in chemical communication and perception. In this study, a gene encoding the Type 1 CSP (BtabCSP1) from the agricultural pest Bemisia tabaci (whitefly) was analyzed to understand sequence variation and expression specificity in different biotypes. Sequence analysis of BtabCSP1 showed significant differences between the two genetically characterized biotypes, B and Q. The B-biotype had a larger number of BtabCSP1 mutations than the Q-biotype. Similar to most other CSPs, BtabCSP1 was more expressed in the head than in the rest of the body. One-step RT-PCR and qPCR analysis on total messenger RNA showed that biotype-Q had higher BtabCSP1 expression levels than biotype-B. Females from a mixed field-population had high levels of BtabCSP1 expression. The interaction of BtabCSP1 with the insecticide thiamethoxam was investigated by analyzing the BtabCSP1 expression levels following exposure to the neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, in a time/dose-response study. Insecticide exposure increased BtabCSP1 expression (up to tenfold) at 4 and 24 h following 50 or 100 g/ml treatments.
Subject(s)
Gene Expression Regulation , Hemiptera/genetics , Insect Proteins/genetics , Insecticides/pharmacology , Nitro Compounds/pharmacology , Oxazines/pharmacology , Thiazoles/pharmacology , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Cloning, Molecular , Female , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Hemiptera/drug effects , Hemiptera/metabolism , Insect Proteins/metabolism , Male , Molecular Sequence Data , Neonicotinoids , Organ Specificity , Phylogeny , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Alignment , Sex Characteristics , ThiamethoxamSubject(s)
Nerve Tissue Proteins/physiology , Vesicular Transport Proteins/physiology , Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport , Animals , Humans , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Membrane Proteins/physiology , Qa-SNARE Proteins , R-SNARE Proteins , SNARE Proteins , Synaptic Membranes/metabolism , Synaptic Membranes/physiology , Synaptosomes/metabolism , Synaptosomes/physiology , Vesicular Transport Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
The effects of two different sonic exposures on two vegetables, namely Chinese cabbage and cucumber at two growth stages, including seedlings and mature plants were investigated. The 3 h exposures included either 20 kHz sound waves or "green music" that comprised classic music and natural sounds such as those of birds, insects, water, etc. Analysis of variance between groups (ANOVA) was used to determine the appropriate statistics parameters for the different treatments. Both exposures caused significant elevations in the level of polyamines (PAs) and increased uptake of oxygen O(2) in comparison with the controls. For Chinese cabbage the highest PAs' levels were determined for both seedlings and mature plants that were exposed to "green music". The oxygen uptake in Chinese cabbage also increased as a result of sonic exposures, and the highest oxygen uptake was also observed after "green music" treatment. For cucumber, the highest content of PAs for both seedlings and mature cucumber plants was determined as a result of 20 kHz ultrasound exposure. 20 kHz exposure of mature plants also resulted in the highest level of oxygen uptake. No statistically significant differences in the vitamin C level were determined between the different sonic treatments and sham exposed vegetables.
