Tyrosine hydroxylase coordinates larval-pupal tanning and immunity in oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis)

The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), a notorious world pest infesting fruits and vegetables, has evolved a high level of resistance to many commonly used insecticides. In this study, we investigate whether tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) that is required for cuticle tanning (sclerotization and pigmentation) in many insects, could be a potential target in controlling B. dorsalis.

We cloned TH cDNA (BdTH) of B. dorsalis. The complete open reading frame of BdTH (KY911196) was 1737 bp in length, encoding a protein of 578 amino acids. Quantitative real-time PCR confirmed that BdTH was highly expressed in the epidermis of 3rd instar larvae, and its expression increased prior to pupation, suggesting a role in larval-pupal cuticle tanning. When we injected dsBdTH or 3-iodo-tyrosine (3-IT) as a TH inhibitor or fed insect diet supplemented with 3-IT, there was significant impairment of larval-pupal cuticle tanning and a severe obstacle to eclosion in adults followed by death in most. Furthermore, injection of Escherichia coli into larvae fed 3-IT resulted in 92% mortality and the expressions of four antimicrobial peptide genes were significantly downregulated.

These results suggest that BdTH might play a critical role in larval-pupal tanning and immunity of B. dorsalis, and could be used as a potential novel target for pest control. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.