In vivo functional analysis of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase(HaDHCR24)in phytosterol metabolism  

作　　者：Zhen Yang Jinchan Ren Shuning Lu Yuanze Feng Yongliang Fan Tong-Xian Liu Xiangfeng Jing 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management of Ministry of Education,Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on Crops in Northwestern Loess Plateau of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,College of Plant Protection,Northwest A&F University,Yangling,Shaanxi,China [2]Institute of Entomology,Guizhou University,Guiyang,China

出　　处：《Insect Science》2025年第2期398-408,共11页昆虫科学(英文版)

基　　金：supported by funds awarded to X.J.by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32070506&32372542).

摘　　要：Insects have to obtain sterols from food due to the inability to synthesize this essential nutrient de novo.For lepidopteran insects,they can convert a variety of phytosterols into cholesterol to meet their growth needs.The final step of the cholesterol biosynthesis is the metabolism of desmosterol catalyzed by 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase(DHCR24).In this study,we identified a DHCR24 homolog in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera,designated as H.armigera 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase(HaDHCR24)-1.The quantitative expression analyses indicated that HaDHCR24-1 was highly enriched in the midgut where dietary sterol uptake occurs.Compared to the control,the DHCR24-1 mutant larvae generated by clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats(CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 technology accumulated more desmosterol in the gut,while the content of cholesterol was significantly reduced.A similar phenomenon was observed when the DHCR24 inhibitor,amiodarone,was applied to the insects.Moreover,DHCR24-1 played an important role for the usage ofβ-sitosterol,a major sterol in plants,in H.armigera,and loss of function of DHCR24-1 resulted in higher mortality onβ-sitosterol.However,the DHCR24 homolog does not necessarily exist in the genomes of all insects.The loss of this gene occurred more frequently in the insects feeding on animals,which further support the role of DHCR24-1 in using phytosterols.This gene may have important potential in developing new strategies to control herbivory pests in Lepidoptera and other insect orders.

关 键 词：AMIODARONE CRISPR/Cas9 DESMOSTEROL DHCR24 Helicoverpa armigera 

分 类 号：S433[农业科学—农业昆虫与害虫防治]