The ecdysone-induced protein 93 is a key factor regulating gonadotrophic cycles in the adult female mosquito Aedes aegypti
- 15 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 118 (8)
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2021910118
Abstract
Repeated blood feedings are required for adult female mosquitoes to maintain their gonadotrophic cycles, enabling them to be important pathogen carriers of human diseases. Elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying developmental switches between these mosquito gonadotrophic cycles will provide valuable insight into mosquito reproduction and could aid in the identification of targets to disrupt these cycles, thereby reducing disease transmission. We report here that the transcription factor ecdysone-induced protein 93 (E93), previously implicated in insect metamorphic transitions, plays a key role in determining the gonadotrophic cyclicity in adult females of the major arboviral vector Aedes aegypti. Expression of the E93 gene in mosquitoes is down-regulated by juvenile hormone (JH) and up-regulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). We find that E93 controls Hormone Receptor 3 (HR3), the transcription factor linked to the termination of reproductive cycles. Moreover, knockdown of E93 expression via RNAi impaired fat body autophagy, suggesting that E93 governs autophagy-induced termination of vitellogenesis. E93 RNAi silencing prior to the first gonadotrophic cycle affected normal progression of the second cycle. Finally, transcriptomic analysis showed a considerable E93-dependent decline in the expression of genes involved in translation and metabolism at the end of a reproductive cycle. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that E93 acts as a crucial factor in regulating reproductive cycle switches in adult female mosquitoes.Funding Information
- National Key Plan for Research and Scientific Development of China (2019YFC1200504)
- HHS | National Institutes of Health (RO1 AI036959)
- National Science Foundation of China (31802013)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBS-LY-SM027)
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