Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression profiling of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes potentially associated with abamectin detoxification in Cydia pomonella

Di Ju; Youssef Dewer; Shipan Zhang; Chao Hu; Peirong Li; Xueqing Yang

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113152

Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression profiling of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes potentially associated with abamectin detoxification in Cydia pomonella

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2022 Jan 15:230:113152. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113152. Epub 2022 Jan 1.

Authors

Di Ju¹, Youssef Dewer², Shipan Zhang¹, Chao Hu¹, Peirong Li¹, Xueqing Yang³

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China; Key Laboratory of Economical and Applied Entomology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China.
² Phytotoxicity Research Department, Central Agricultural Pesticide Laboratory, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki 12618, Giza, Egypt.
³ College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China; Key Laboratory of Economical and Applied Entomology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China. Electronic address: sling233@hotmail.com.

PMID: 34983008
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113152

Abstract

The codling moth Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the most notorious pests of pome fruits and walnuts worldwide, which has developed resistance to almost all classes of insecticides, including abamectin (ABM). ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are thought to play a vital roles in insecticide detoxification by reducing the toxic concentrations of insecticides in an organism tissues. Despite the tremendous progress in understanding the detoxification mechanisms at the molecular level, the physiological functions of ABC transporters in insects have been poorly investigated. In this study, we found that the ABC inhibitor verapamil synergized significantly the toxicity of ABM, suggesting a potential role of ABC in detoxification. A total of 54 ABC genes were identified in the third-instar larvae of C. pomonella after treatment with sublethal doses (LD₁₀ and LD₃₀) of ABM. The expression profile of these genes in ABM-treated larvae at different time points (24, 48, 72 hr) using transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) was also investigated. The results showed that the expression of about 30 ABC genes was significantly co-upregulated after treatment. Several specific genes were up-regulated at 48 hr after treatment of larvae with LD₁₀ ABM. Among these up-regulated genes, we found that the relative expression level of the CPOM19553 was 29.7-fold and 16.0-fold higher when larvae were exposed to ABM at the LD₁₀ and LD₃₀ doses compared to control, respectively. Unlike other ABC genes, only CPOM08323 exhibited significant expression levels in the head and cuticle of the third-instar larvae of C. pomonella exposed to the two sublethal doses of ABM, with no expression was observed in the detoxification tissues such as midgut and Malpighian tubule. This study suggests that these up-regulated genes may be involved in ABM resistance in C. pomonella. Our findings will provide an additional information required for further analysis of ABC transporter genes associated with xenobiotic metabolism in C. pomonella.

Keywords: ABC transporter genes; Cydia pomonella; Detoxification mechanisms; Insecticide resistance; Transcriptomic analysis.