Regulation of growth-blocking peptide expression during embryogenesis of the cabbage armyworm

Growth-blocking peptide (GBP) is an insect cytokine with diverse biological functions. Northern blot analysis revealed high heterogeneity in the size distribution of GBP mRNAs as well as in the tissues where they are detected. The spatio-temporal transcription pattern is dynamic, especially during embryogenesis. Gel shift assays demonstrated that the cabbage armyworm embryo nuclear extract specifically binds to a 178-bp element, at position +234 to +411 from the transcription start site of the 1.3 kb GBP transcript, in which two Drosophila Deformed (Dfd) binding sites are repeated in tandem. The specific binding between this element and Dfd was demonstrated using recombinant cabbage armyworm Dfd protein. Silencing the Dfd expression in embryos by treating with Dfd double-stranded RNA did not reduce the expression level of GBP, but ectopic GBP expression was observed in the lateral region of the embryo, suggesting that Dfd could serve as a transcriptional repressor for the GBP gene.