Genome-wide Analysis of Alternative Gene Splicing Associated with Virulence in the Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Alternative splicing of protein coding genes plays a profound role in phenotypic variation for many eukaryotic organisms. The development of high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics algorithms provides the possibility of genome-wide identification of alternative splicing events in eukaryotes. However, for the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, a destructive pest of rice crops, whole-genome distribution of alternative splicing events and the role of alternative splicing in the phenotypic plasticity of virulence have not previously been estimated. Here, we developed an analysis pipeline to identify alternative splicing events in the genome of N. lugens. Differential expression analysis and functional annotation were performed on datasets related to different virulence phenotypes. In total, 27,880 alternative splicing events corresponding to 9,787 multi-exon genes were detected in N. lugens. Among them, specifically expressed alternative splicing transcripts in the virulent Mudgo population were enriched in metabolic process categories, while transcripts in the avirulent TN1 population were enriched in regulator activity categories. In addition, genes encoding odorant receptor, secreted saliva protein and xenobiotic metabolic P450 monooxygenase showed different splicing patterns between Mudgo population and TN1 population. Host change experiment also revealed that an isoform of a P450 gene could be specially induced by the stimulation of resistant rice variety Mudgo. This research pioneered a genome-wide study of alternative gene splicing in the rice brown planthopper. Differences in alternative splicing between virulent and avirulent populations indicated that alternative splicing might play an important role in the formation of virulence phenotypes in N. lugens.

Liu K ，Su Q ，Kang K ，Chen M ，Wang WX ，Zhang WQ ，Pang R ... -  《-》

Genome-wide identification of long noncoding RNA genes and their potential association with fecundity and virulence in rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens.

Xiao H ，Yuan Z ，Guo D ，Hou B ，Yin C ，Zhang W ，Li F ... -  《BMC GENOMICS》

Comparative transcriptome analysis of salivary glands of two populations of rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, that differ in virulence.

Ji R ，Yu H ，Fu Q ，Chen H ，Ye W ，Li S ，Lou Y ... -  《PLoS One》

Transcriptome analysis of fat bodies from two brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) populations with different virulence levels in rice.

Yu H ，Ji R ，Ye W ，Chen H ，Lai W ，Fu Q ，Lou Y ... -  《PLoS One》

Changes in Endosymbiotic Bacteria of Brown Planthoppers During the Process of Adaptation to Different Resistant Rice Varieties.

The specific primers of five species of endosymbiotic bacteria were designed to determine their numbers in three virulent populations of brown planthopper, Nilapavata lugens Stål, and to assess changes during adaptation to different resistant varieties using fluorescent quantitative PCR. The results showed that Chryseobacterium was the dominant bacteria in all three populations of brown planthopper, followed by Acinetobacter in TN1 population, Arsenophonus and Serratia in Mudgo population, and Arthrobacter and Acinetobacter in ASD7 population. When the TN1 population of brown planthopper was transferred to ASD7 (with resistant gene bph2) rice plants, Chryseobacterium was still the dominant bacteria, but the originally subdominant Acinetobacter declined to a level that was not significantly different from that of other endosymbiotic bacteria. After they were transferred to Mudgo (with resistant gene Bph1), Serratia and Arsenophonus increased significantly and became the dominant bacteria. However, they declined to a level that was not significantly different from that of the three other species after two generations. When ASD7 and Mudgo populations of brown planthopper were transferred to the susceptible variety TN1, the community of endosymbiotic bacteria in the ASD7 population of brown planthopper showed no significant changes. However, the numbers of Acinetobacter and Arthrobacter in the Mudgo population of brown planthopper exhibited a transient increase and returned to their original levels after two generations. After the Mudgo population of brown planthopper was transferred to ASD7 rice plants, the quantity of endosymbiotic bacteria fluctuated, but the bacterial structure did not change significantly. However, after the ASD7 population of brown planthopper was transferred to the Mudgo rice plants, the bacterial structure changed significantly. Serratia and Arsenophonus increased significantly and became dominant. Although Serratia and Arsenophonus decreased significantly after a generation, they were still greater than Chryseobacterium. It was presumed that Chryseobacterium was dominant in all three populations of virulent brown planthoppers, but had no significant effect on virulence variation of brown planthopper. However, Serratia and Arsenophonus might be correlated with virulence variation of brown planthopper.

Hong-Xing X ，Xu-Song Z ，Ya-Jun Y ，Jun-Ce T ，Qiang F ，Gong-Yin Y ，Zhong-Xian L ... -  《-》