title: Expression profiling of a diapause-specific peptide (DSP) of the leaf beetle Gastrophysa atrocyanea and silencing of DSP by double-strand RNA.
abstract: A diapause-specific peptide (DSP) composed of 41 amino acid residues including 6 cysteines, has been isolated from diapausing adults of the leaf beetle Gastrophysa atrocyanea. In this study, DSP was found to be expressed primarily in diapausing adults and to a minor extent in pupae, but not in eggs, larvae, or post-diapausing adults. DSP was not induced by bacterial or fungal challenge. DSP-less adults were generated by the injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) corresponding to the dsp gene into pre-diapausing adults. Gene silencing induced by dsRNA was found to be a useful tool for the analysis of DSP in diapausing adults. DSP-less adults showed similar burrowing behavior and oxygen consumption as control insects suggesting that DSP is not essential for the normal onset and maintenance of diapause.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Department of Agro-Bioscience, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka 020-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005658:Fungi; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011679:Pupa / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins