Azadirachtin exposure inhibit ovary development of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by altering lipids metabolism event and inhibiting insulin signaling pathways

Ranran Sun; Liwei Jiang; Wenlong Chen; Yuanhao Xu; Xin Yi; Guohua Zhong

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115151

Azadirachtin exposure inhibit ovary development of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by altering lipids metabolism event and inhibiting insulin signaling pathways

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2023 Jun 23:262:115151. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115151. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ranran Sun¹, Liwei Jiang¹, Wenlong Chen¹, Yuanhao Xu¹, Xin Yi², Guohua Zhong³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Crop Integrated Pest Management in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory of Crop Integrated Pest Management in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: yixin423@126.com.
³ Key Laboratory of Crop Integrated Pest Management in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: guohuazhong@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 37356396
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115151

Abstract

Lipids are main energy source for insects reproduction, which are becoming emerging target for pest management. Azadirachtin (AZA) is a multi-targeted and promising botanical insecticide, but its reproduction toxicity mechanism related to lipids metabolism is poorly understood. Here, we applied lipidomic and transcriptomic to provide a comprehensive resource for describing the effect of AZA on lipids remodeling in ovary of Spodoptera litura. The results showed that AZA exposure obviously altered the contents of 130 lipids subclasses (76 upregulated and 54 downregulated). In detail, AZA exposure changed the length and saturation degrees of fatty acyl chain of most glycerolipid, phospholipid and sphingolipid as well as the expression of genes related to biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and fatty acids elongation. Besides, following the abnormal lipids metabolism, western blot analysis suggested that AZA induce insulin resistance-like phenotypes by inhibiting insulin receptor substrates (IRS) /PI3K/AKT pathway, which might be responsible for the ovary abnormalities of S. litura. Collectively, our study provided insights into the lipids metabolism event in S. litura underlying AZA exposure, these key metabolites and genes identified in this study would also provide important reference for pest control in future.

Keywords: Azadirachtin; Lipids metabolism; Ovary development; Spodoptera litura.