Life Sciences Commons^™

Intragenic Dna Methylation Regulates Insect Gene Expression And Reproduction Through The Mbd/Tip60 Complex, Guanfeng Xu, Hao Lyu, Yangqin Yi, Yuling Peng, Qili Feng, Qisheng Song, Chengcheng Gong, Xuezhen Peng, Subba Reddy Palli, Sichun Zheng

Entomology Faculty Publications

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification. However, the regulations and functions of insect intragenic DNA methylation remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a regulatory mechanism involving intragenic DNA methylation controls ovarian and embryonic developmental processes in Bombyx mori. In B. mori, DNA methylation is found near the transcription start site (TSS) of ovarian genes. By promoter activity analysis, we observed that 5′ UTR methylation enhances gene expression. Moreover, methyl-DNA-binding domain protein 2/3 (MBD2/3) binds to the intragenic methyl-CpG fragment and recruits acetyltransferase Tip60 to promote histone H3K27 acetylation and gene expression. Additionally, genome-wide analyses showed that the peak …

Reproductive Compatibility Among Populations And Host‐Associated Lineages Of The Common Bed Bug (Cimex Lectularius L.), Zachary C. Devries, Richard G. Santangelo, Warren Booth, Christopher G. Lawrence, Ondřej Balvín, Tomáš Bartonička, Coby Schal

Entomology Faculty Publications

As populations differentiate across geographic or host‐association barriers, interpopulation fertility is often a measure of the extent of incipient speciation. The bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., was recently found to form two host‐associated lineages within Europe: one found with humans (human‐associated, HA) and the other found with bats (bat‐associated, BA). No unequivocal evidence of contemporary gene flow between these lineages has been found; however, it is unclear whether this is due to an inability to produce viable “hybrid” offspring. To address this question and determine the extent of compatibility between host‐associated lineages, we set up mating crosses among populations of …

Impact Of Sublethal Exposure To A Pyrethroid-Neonicotinoid Insecticide On Mating, Fecundity And Development In The Bed Bug Cimex Lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), Sydney E. Crawley, Jennifer R. Gordon, Katelyn A. Kowles, Michael F. Potter, Kenneth F. Haynes

Entomology Faculty Publications

Sublethal exposure to an insecticide may alter insect feeding, mating, oviposition, fecundity, development, and many other life history parameters. Such effects may have population-level consequences that are not apparent in traditional dose-mortality evaluations. Earlier, we found that a routinely used combination insecticide that includes a pyrethroid and a neonicotinoid (Temprid^® SC) had deleterious effects on multiple bed bug (Cimex lectularius, L.) behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that sublethal exposure impacts physiology and reproduction as well. We report that sublethal exposure to Temprid SC has variable aberrant effects on bed bugs depending on the strain, including: a reduction in …

Wolbachia Strain Wpip Yields A Pattern Of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility Enhancing A Wolbachia-Based Suppression Strategy Against The Disease Vector Aedes Albopictus, Maurizio Calvitti, Riccardo Moretti, Amanda R. Skidmore, Stephen L. Dobson

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is induced in nature by Wolbachia bacteria, resulting in conditional male sterility. Previous research demonstrated that the two Wolbachia strains (wAlbA and wAlbB) that naturally co-infect the disease vector mosquito Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) can be replaced with the wPip Wolbachia strain from Culex pipiens. Since Wolbachia-based vector control strategies depend upon the strength and consistency of CI, a greater understanding is needed on the CI relationships between wPip, wAlbA and wAlbB Wolbachia in Ae. albopictus.

METHODS: This work consisted of a collaborative series of crosses carried out in Italy and in US to study …

Bed Bug Deterrence, Kenneth F. Haynes, Mark H. Goodman, Michael F. Potter

Entomology Faculty Publications

A recent study in BMC Biology has determined that the immature stage of the bed bug (the nymph) signals its reproductive status to adult males using pheromones and thus avoids the trauma associated with copulation in this species. The success of this nymphal strategy of deterrence is instructive. Against the background of increasing problems with bed bugs, this research raises the question whether pheromones might be used to control them.

See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/121.

Genome-Wide Analysis Of The Interaction Between The Endosymbiotic Bacterium Wolbachia And Its Drosophila Host, Zhiyong Xi, Laurent Gavotte, Yan Xie, Stephen L. Dobson

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Intracellular Wolbachia bacteria are obligate, maternally-inherited, endosymbionts found frequently in insects and other invertebrates. The success of Wolbachia can be attributed in part to an ability to alter host reproduction via mechanisms including cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), parthenogenesis, feminization and male killing. Despite substantial scientific effort, the molecular mechanisms underlying the Wolbachia/host interaction are unknown.

RESULTS: Here, an in vitro Wolbachia infection was generated in the Drosophila S2 cell line, and transcription profiles of infected and uninfected cells were compared by microarray. Differentially-expressed patterns related to reproduction, immune response and heat stress response are observed, including multiple genes that have …