Apoptosis has been widely studied from mammals to insects. Inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) protein is a negative regulator of apoptosis. Recent studies suggest that iap genes could be excellent targets for RNA interference (RNAi)‐mediated control of insect pests. However, not much is known about iap genes in one of the well‐known insect model species, Tribolium castaneum. The orthologues of five iap genes were identified in T. castaneum by searching its genome at NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and UniProt (https://www.uniprot.org/) databases using Drosophila melanogaster and Aedes aegypti IAP protein sequences as queries. RNAi assays were performed in T. castaneum cell line (TcA) and larvae. The knockdown of iap1 gene induced a distinct apoptotic phenotype in TcA cells and induced 91% mortality in T. castaneum larvae. Whereas, knockdown of iap5 resulted in a decrease in cell proliferation in TcA cells and developmental defects in T. castaneum larvae which led to 100% mortality. Knockdown of the other three iap genes identified did not cause a significant effect on cells or insects. These data increase our understanding of iap genes in insects and provide opportunities for developing iap1 and iap5 as targets for RNAi‐based insect pest control.

中文翻译：

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评估凋亡基因抑制剂作为 RNAi 介导的害虫控制靶点。

从哺乳动物到昆虫，细胞凋亡已得到广泛研究。细胞凋亡抑制剂 (IAP) 蛋白是细胞凋亡的负调节因子。最近的研究表明，iap基因可能是 RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 介导的害虫控制的极好目标。然而，对于一种著名的昆虫模型物种赤拟谷盗中的iap基因知之甚少。通过在NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) 和 UniProt (https://www.uniprot.org/) 数据库中使用Drosophila melanogaster和Aedes aegypti IAP 蛋白质序列作为查询。RNAi 测定在T. castaneum细胞系 (TcA) 和幼虫。iap1基因的敲低在 TcA 细胞中诱导了明显的凋亡表型，并在T. castaneum幼虫中诱导了 91% 的死亡率。然而，iap5的敲低导致 TcA 细胞的细胞增殖减少和T. castaneum幼虫的发育缺陷，导致 100% 的死亡率。确定的其他三个iap基因的敲低不会对细胞或昆虫造成显着影响。这些数据增加了我们对昆虫中iap基因的理解，并为开发iap1和iap5作为基于 RNAi 的害虫控制目标提供了机会。