BACKGROUND Most aphids exhibit wing polyphenism in which wingless and winged morphs produce depending on the population density and host plant quality. Although the influence of environmental factors on wing polyphenism of aphids have been extensively investigated, molecular mechanisms underlining morph differentiation (i.e. wing development /degeneration), one downstream aspect of the wing polyphenism, has been poorly understood. RESULTS We examined the expression levels of the twenty genes involved in wing development network, and only vestigial (vg) showed significantly different expression levels in both whole-body and wall-body of third instar nymphs, with 5.4- and 16.14- fold higher expression in winged lines compared to wingless lines, respectively in Rhopalosiphum padi. vg expression was higher in winged lines compared to wingless lines in third, fourth instar nymphs and adults. Larger difference expression was observed in third (21.38-fold) and fourth (20.91-fold) instar nymphs relative to adults (3.12-fold). Suppression of vg using RNAi repressed the wing development of third winged morphs. Furthermore, dual luciferase reporter assay revealed that the miR-147 can target the vg mRNA. Modulation of miR-147b levels by microinjection of its agomir (mimic) decreased vg expression levels and repressed wing development. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that vg is essential for wing development in R. padi and that miR-147b modulates its expression.

中文翻译：

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miR-147b 调节的退化表达可调节鸟樱桃-燕麦蚜虫 Rhopalosiphum padi 的翅膀发育。


背景技术大多数蚜虫表现出翅多型现象，其中根据种群密度和寄主植物质量产生无翅和有翅变体。尽管环境因素对蚜虫翅多型性的影响已被广泛研究，但对形态分化（即翅发育/退化）（翅多型性的下游方面）的分子机制了解甚少。结果检测了参与翅膀发育网络的20个基因的表达水平，只有vestigial（vg）在三龄若虫全身和壁体中的表达水平存在显着差异，表达量分别高出5.4倍和16.14倍。分别在 Rhopalosiphum padi 中的有翅品系与无翅品系进行比较。在第三、四龄若虫和成虫中，与无翅品系相比，有翅品系中的 vg 表达更高。相对于成虫（3.12 倍），在第三龄若虫（21.38 倍）和第四龄若虫（20.91 倍）中观察到更大的差异表达。使用 RNAi 抑制 vg 抑制了第三翅形态的翅膀发育。此外，双荧光素酶报告基因检测显示 miR-147 可以靶向 vg mRNA。通过显微注射 miR-147b（模拟物）来调节 miR-147b 水平，可降低 vg 表达水平并抑制翅膀发育。结论 我们的研究结果表明，vg 对于 R. padi 的翅膀发育至关重要，并且 miR-147b 调节其表达。