Roles of the circadian clock and endocrine regulator in the photoperiodic response of the brown‐winged green bug <scp><i>Plautia stali</i></scp>

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  • Takaaki Tamai
    Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science Osaka City University Osaka Japan
  • Sakiko Shiga
    Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science Osaka City University Osaka Japan
  • Shin G. Goto
    Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science Osaka City University Osaka Japan

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<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The physiological mechanisms underlying photoperiodism in insects have been studied extensively, although the associated molecular machinery remains largely unknown. In the present study, we investigate the roles of the circadian clock gene <jats:italic>cycle</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic>) and the endocrine regulator gene <jats:italic>myoinhibitory peptide</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic>) in the photoperiodic response of the brown‐winged green bug <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"><jats:italic>Plautia stali</jats:italic></jats:styled-content> <jats:sc>Scott</jats:sc> (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae). Typically, adult females of this species develop their ovaries under long‐day conditions, whereas they suppress its development under short‐day conditions. We find that RNA interference (RNAi) directed against <jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic> causes malfunction of the circadian clock governing the locomotor activity rhythm and yields abnormal activity profiles not only under constant darkness, but also under light/dark conditions. RNAi directed against <jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic> disrupts the photoperiodic response in ovarian development. <jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic> RNAi suppresses the ovarian development even under long‐day conditions, whereas <jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic> RNAi induces it even under short‐day conditions. We propose that the core circadian clock gene <jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic> regulates the photoperiodic response and that <jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic> is the causal regulator of juvenile hormone biosynthesis in the corpus allatum. Neither photoperiod, nor <jats:italic>cyc</jats:italic> RNAi affect <jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic> mRNA levels, and therefore it remains unknown how the photoperiodic information is processed and mediated by <jats:italic>Mip</jats:italic>.</jats:p>

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