title: RNA sequencing to characterize transcriptional changes of sexual maturation and mating in the female oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Female reproductive potential plays a significant role in the survival and stability of species, and sexual maturation and mating processes are crucial. However, our knowledge of the reproductive genes involved in sexual maturation and mating has been largely limited to model organisms. The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis is a highly invasive agricultural pest, known to cause major economic losses; thus, it is of great value to understand the transcriptional changes involved in sexual maturation and mating processes as well as the related genes. Here, we used a high-throughput sequencing method to identify multiple genes potentially involved in sexual maturation and mating in female B. dorsalis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We sequenced 39,999 unique genes with an average length of 883 bp. In total, 3264 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected between mature virgin and immature Bactrocera dorsalis libraries, whereas only 83 DEGs were identified between flies that had mated or were mature virgins. These DEGs were functionally annotated using the GO and KEGG pathway annotation tools. Results showed that the main GO terms associated with the DEGs from the mature virgin vs. immature groups were primarily assigned to the metabolic and developmental processes, which we focused on, whereas those from the mated vs. mature virgin group largely belonged to the response to stimulus and immune system processes. Additionally, we identified multiple DEGs during sexual maturation that are involved in reproduction, and expression pattern analysis revealed that the majority DEGs detected were highly enriched in those linked to the ovaries or fat bodies. Several mating responsive genes differentially expressed after mating were also identified, and all antimicrobial peptides detected were highly enriched in fat body and significantly up-regulated approximately 2- to 10-fold at 24 h after mating.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supplied female reproductive genes involved in sexual maturation and the post-mating response in B. dorsalis, based on RNA-seq. Our data will facilitate molecular research related to reproduction and provide abundant target genes for effective control of this agricultural pest.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Application and Sustainable Pest Control and Institute of Urban and Horticultural Pests, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. wwzheng@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Application and Sustainable Pest Control and Institute of Urban and Horticultural Pests, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. 15527187493@163.com.
authors.forename: Deye
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Application and Sustainable Pest Control and Institute of Urban and Horticultural Pests, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. wufangyu925@126.com.
authors.forename: Fangyu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Application and Sustainable Pest Control and Institute of Urban and Horticultural Pests, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. wangjialu@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jialu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Application and Sustainable Pest Control and Institute of Urban and Horticultural Pests, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. hongyu.zhang@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D012098:Reproduction; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000235:genetics*; D033621:Tephritidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D059467:Transcriptome