Characterization and Functional Analysis of Small Heat Shock Protein Genes (<i>Hsp22.2</i> and <i>Hsp26.7</i>) in <i>Sitodiplosis mosellana</i> Diapause

Characterization and Functional Analysis of Small Heat Shock Protein Genes (<i>Hsp22.2</i> and <i>Hsp26.7</i>) in <i>Sitodiplosis mosellana</i> Diapause

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) play crucial roles in organismal adaptation to stress tolerance. <i>Sitodiplosis mosellana</i>, a devastating insect wheat pest, undergoes long obligatory larval diapause to survive temperature extremes during summer and winter. To elucidate the function...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qitong Huang, Qian Ma, Xiaobin Liu, Keyan Zhu-Salzman, Weining Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Insects
Subjects:
small heat shock protein
diapause
<i>Sitodiplosis mosellana</i>
temperature stress
cold adaptation
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/7/649
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Summary:Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) play crucial roles in organismal adaptation to stress tolerance. <i>Sitodiplosis mosellana</i>, a devastating insect wheat pest, undergoes long obligatory larval diapause to survive temperature extremes during summer and winter. To elucidate the function of sHsps in this process, two sHsp-encoding genes (<i>SmHsp22.2</i> and <i>SmHsp26.7</i>) were characterized from <i>S. mosellana</i>, and their responsiveness to diapause and thermal stress, as well as their roles in cold stress, was analyzed. Both <i>SmHsp22.2</i> and <i>SmHsp26.7</i> possessed the canonical α-crystallin domain and lacked introns. Quantitative PCR indicated significant upregulation of <i>SmHsp22.2</i> and <i>SmHsp26.7</i> during diapause, especially in summer and winter. Notably, <i>SmHsp22.2</i> exhibited higher expression in summer relative to winter, whereas <i>SmHsp26.7</i> showed the opposite profile. Moreover, short-term heat shock (≥35 °C) in over-summering larvae or cold shock (≤−10 °C) in over-wintering larvae was found to trigger transcriptional upregulation of both genes, while prolonged temperature extremes (i.e., 45–50 °C or −15 °C) did not elicit a comparable response. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of both genes significantly increased the mortality of <i>S. mosellana</i> larvae under cold stress. These findings indicate the importance of both <i>SmHsps</i> in diapause and environmental adaptation in <i>S. mosellana</i>.
ISSN:2075-4450

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