title: De novo assembly and characterization of central nervous system transcriptome reveals neurotransmitter signaling systems in the rice striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurotransmitter signaling systems play crucial roles in multiple physiological and behavioral processes in insects. Genome wide analyses of de novo transcriptome sequencing and gene specific expression profiling provide rich resources for studying neurotransmitter signaling pathways. The rice striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis is a destructive rice pest in China and other Asian countries. The characterization of genes involved in neurotransmitter biosynthesis and transport could identify potential targets for disruption of the neurochemical communication and for crop protection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report de novo sequencing of the C. suppressalis central nervous system transcriptome, identification and expression profiles of genes putatively involved in neurotransmitter biosynthesis, packaging, and recycling/degradation. A total of 54,411 unigenes were obtained from the transcriptome analysis. Among these unigenes, we have identified 32 unigenes (31 are full length genes), which encode 21 enzymes and 11 transporters putatively associated with biogenic aminergic signaling, acetylcholinergic signaling, glutamatergic signaling and GABAergic signaling. RT-PCR and qRT-PCR results indicated that 12 enzymes were highly expressed in the central nervous system and all the transporters were expressed at significantly high levels in the central nervous system. In addition, the transcript abundances of enzymes and transporters in the central nervous system were validated by qRT-PCR. The high expression levels of these genes suggest their important roles in the central nervous system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study identified genes potentially involved in neurotransmitter biosynthesis and transport in C. suppressalis and these genes could serve as targets to interfere with neurotransmitter production. This study presents an opportunity for the development of specific and environmentally safe insecticides for pest control.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. xugang0503@126.com.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. wusf@njau.edu.cn.|State & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Green Pesticide Invention and Application, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China. wusf@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shun-Fan
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. yeziyouhongle@163.com.
authors.forename: Ya-Su
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. gu_guixiang@163.com.
authors.forename: Gui-Xiang
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. fangqi@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology & Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. chu@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Gong-Yin
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004798:Enzymes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016678:Genome; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009420:Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012275:Oryza / Q000469:parasitology; D010802:Phylogeny; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000469:parasitology; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D019476:Insect Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents