title: A Critical Role for CLSP2 in the Modulation of Antifungal Immune Response in Mosquitoes.
abstract: Entomopathogenic fungi represent a promising class of bio-insecticides for mosquito control. Thus, detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms governing anti-fungal immune response in mosquitoes is essential. In this study, we show that CLSP2 is a modulator of immune responses during anti-fungal infection in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. With a fungal infection, the expression of the CLSP2 gene is elevated. CLSP2 is cleaved upon challenge with Beauveria bassiana conidia, and the liberated CLSP2 CTL-type domain binds to fungal cell components and B. bassiana conidia. Furthermore, CLPS2 RNA interference silencing significantly increases the resistance to the fungal challenge. RNA-sequencing transcriptome analysis showed that the majority of immune genes were highly upregulated in the CLSP2-depleted mosquitoes infected with the fungus. The up-regulated immune gene cohorts belong to melanization and Toll pathways, but not to the IMD or JAK-STAT. A thioester-containing protein (TEP22), a member of α2-macroglobulin family, has been implicated in the CLSP2-modulated mosquito antifungal defense. Our study has contributed to a greater understanding of immune-modulating mechanisms in mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Long-Sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Song-Nian
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Raikhel
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052982:Beauveria / Q000276:immunology*; D009033:Culicidae / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000379:methods; D009181:Mycoses / Q000276:immunology; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D057057:Serine Proteases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D057057:Serine Proteases