Juvenile hormone regulation of HMG-R gene expression in the bark beetle Ips paraconfusus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae): implications for male aggregation pheromone biosynthesis

• Published in: Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 121 - 127
• Main Authors: Tittiger, C, Blomquist, G.J, Ivarsson, P, Borgeson, C.E, Seybold, S.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer Nature B.V 1999; Birkhäuser-Verlag
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biosynthesis; Cloning, Molecular; Cockroaches; Coleoptera - enzymology; Coleoptera - genetics; complementary DNA; genbank/af071750; gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic - genetics; genetic regulation; Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases - chemistry; Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases - genetics; hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase; Insect Proteins - chemistry; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insects; Ips paraconfusus; juvenile hormones; Male; males; messenger RNA; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Pheromones; Pheromones - biosynthesis; Regulation; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Scolytidae; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sesquiterpenes - pharmacology; Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
• ISSN: 1420-682X; 1420-9071
• DOI: 10.1007/s000180050275

Juvenile hormone III (JH III) induces acyclic isoprenoid pheromone production in male Ips paraconfusus. A likely regulatory enzyme in this process is 3-hydroxy-e-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-R). To begin molecular studies on pheromone production, a 1.16-kb complementary DNA representing approximately one-third of I. paraconfusus HMG-R was isolated by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The predicted translation product is 59% and 75% identical to the corresponding portion of HMG-R from the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, respectively. Northern blots show that topical application of JH III increases HMG-R transcript levels in male thoraces in an apparent dose- and time-dependent manner. These data support the model that JH III raises HMG-R transcript levels, resulting in increased activity of the isoprenoid pathway and de novo pheromone production.