Differential regulation of antioxidant enzymes in Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) exposed to thermal stress

Jia-Wen Yuan; Yutao Zheng; Ya-Wen Chang; Jing Bai; Jing Qin; Yu-Zhou Du

doi:10.7717/peerj.12089

Differential regulation of antioxidant enzymes in Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) exposed to thermal stress

PeerJ. 2021 Aug 27:9:e12089. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12089. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jia-Wen Yuan¹, Yutao Zheng¹, Ya-Wen Chang¹, Jing Bai¹, Jing Qin¹, Yu-Zhou Du^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Horticulture and Plant Protection & Institute of Applied Entomology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Frankliniella occidentalis is an invasive insect pest that incites damage to ornamental and agronomic crops on a global scale. In this study, the effects of temperature on gene expression and enzyme activity were studied for superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in F. occidentalis. SOD, POD and GST enzyme activity increased significantly at 35-37 °C but declined as the temperature increased to 41 °C. In a time course study at 35 °C, SOD, POD and GST activities were significantly elevated at 0.5, 1 and 2 h in comparison to the control at 26 °C. Expression patterns were evaluated for the three antioxidant genes under high and low temperature stress. In a time course study at -4 °C, SOD, POD and GST expression peaked at 1 h and declined at 2 h of exposure. In contrast, when transcription was monitored at 35 °C, expression was lowest at 1 h and increased at 2 h. The results provide data that will be useful in deciphering the role of antioxidant enzymes in the adaptation of F. occidentalis to climate change.

Keywords: Enzymatic activity; Frankliniella occidentalis; Gene expression; Oxidative defense; Thermal stress.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (201103026, 200803025). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.