Insects 2013, 4(3), 506-520; doi:10.3390/insects4030506
Gut Transcription in Helicoverpa zea is Dynamically Altered in Response to Baculovirus Infection
1
Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University, Waggoner Hall 358, Macomb, IL 61455, USA
2
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit, 1515 College Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
3
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Biological Control of Insects Research Laboratory, 1503 S. Providence, Columbia, MO 65203, USA
4
Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Jena 07745, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 15 July 2013 / Revised: 4 September 2013 / Accepted: 16 September 2013 / Published: 23 September 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insect Pathology)
Abstract
The Helicoverpa zea transcriptome was analyzed 24 h after H. zea larvae fed on artificial diet laced with Helicoverpa zea single nucleopolyhedrovirus (HzSNPV). Significant differential regulation of 1,139 putative genes (p < 0.05 T-test with Benjamini and Hochberg False Discovery Rate) was detected in the gut epithelial tissue; where 63% of these genes were down-regulated and 37% of genes were up-regulated compared to the mock-infected control. Genes that play important roles in digestive physiology were noted as being generally down-regulated. Among these were aminopeptidases, trypsin-like serine proteases, lipases, esterases and serine proteases. Genes related to the immune response reacted in a complex nature having peptidoglycan binding and viral antigen recognition proteins and antiviral pathway systems down-regulated, whereas antimicrobial peptides and prophenoloxidase were up-regulated. In general, detoxification genes, specifically cytochrome P450 and glutathione S-transferase were down-regulated as a result of infection. This report offers the first comparative transcriptomic study of H. zea compared to HzSNPV infected H. zea and provides further groundwork that will lead to a larger understanding of transcriptional perturbations associated with viral infection and the host response to the viral insult in what is likely the most heavily infected tissue in the insect.Keywords:
Helicoverpa zea; HzSNPV; gut epithelium; microarray
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Noland, J.E.; Breitenbach, J.E.; Popham, H.J.R.; Hum-Musser, S.M.; Vogel, H.; Musser, R.O. Gut Transcription in Helicoverpa zea is Dynamically Altered in Response to Baculovirus Infection. Insects 2013, 4, 506-520.