Abstract:
In order to reveal the influence of volatiles from leaves of the non-host plants including
Celtis kunmingensis and
Alnus nepalensis on gene expression of the vitellogenin(
Vg) and its receptor(
VgR) of
Tomicus yunnanensis, the transcriptions of these 2 genes at different development stages(egg, larvae, pupae and adult) and in different tissues of female adults(head, thorax, wing, ovary and abdomen carcass), and in response to the leaf volatiles from 2 non-host plants were determined using fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that the expressions of
Vg and
VgR genes are significant higher in pupae and adult than that in other developmental stages, and they were expressed significantly higher in adult than in pupae.
Vg gene was expressed highest in abdomen carcass, while
VgR gene has abundantly ovary-specific expression. The expression of
Vg gene significantly reduced by the treatment of leaf volatiles from
C. kunmingensis after 20 d and 40 d, while its expression significantly upregulated after 60 d. After the treatment of leaf volatiles from
A. nepalensis 20 d and 40 d, the gene expression of
VgR was significantly downregulated, while the expression of this gene didn't change after 60 d. The findings imply that egg production of
T. yunnanensis can be influenced by non-host volatiles via regulation of its
Vg and
VgR gene expression, which lay a foundation for further revealing the underlying mechanisms.