Blister beetles have medicinal uses for their defensive secretion cantharidin, which has curative effects on many cancers and other diseases. It was demonstrated that sexual dimorphism exists in the production of cantharidin between male and female adults. This study performed a de novo assembly of Epicauta tibialis transcriptomes and analyzed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between male and female adults to help to find genes and pathways associated with cantharidin biosynthesis. A total of 99,295,624 paired reads were generated, and more than 7 Gb transcriptome data for each sample were obtained after trimming. The clean data were used to de novo assemble and then cluster into 27,355 unigenes, with a mean length of 1442 bp and an N50 of 2725 bp. Of these, 14,314 (52.33%) unigenes were annotated by protein databases. Differential expression analysis identified 284 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between male and female adults. Nearly 239 DEGs were up‐regulated in male adults than in female adults, while 45 DEGs were down‐regulated. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes pathway enrichment manifested that seven up‐regulated DEGs in male adults were assigned to the terpenoid biosynthesis pathway, to which 19 unigenes were annotated. The DEGs in the terpenoid biosynthesis pathway between male and female adults may be responsible for the sexual dimorphism in cantharidin production. The up‐regulated genes assigned to the pathway in male adults may play a significant role in cantharidin biosynthesis, and its biosynthesis process is probably via the mevalonate pathway. The results would be helpful to better understand and reveal the complicated mechanism of the cantharidin biosynthesis.

中文翻译：

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胫胫小夜蛾的从头转录组装配体提供了对邻苯二酚生产中性二态性的见解

水泡甲虫的防御性分泌鸟th素具有医学用途，对许多癌症和其他疾病都有治愈作用。事实证明，在成年男性和女性之间的邻苯二酚生产中存在性二态性。这项研究进行了从头到尾的非洲小叶蝉的组装转录组，并分析了成年男性和女性之间的差异表达基因（DEG），以帮助寻找与斑th素生物合成相关的基因和途径。总共生成了99,295,624个配对读段，并且在修剪后获得了每个样品的超过7 Gb转录组数据。干净的数据用于重新组装，然后聚集成27,355个单基因，平均长度为1442 bp，N50为2725 bp。其中，有14314个（52.33％）单基因被蛋白质数据库注释。差异表达分析确定了成年男性和女性之间的284个差异表达基因（DEG）。男性成年人中将近239个DEGs上调，而女性成年人中则有45个DEGs下调。《京都议定书》的基因和基因组途径丰富化研究表明，将七种上调的成年DEG分配给了萜类生物合成途径，并在其中注释了19种单基因。男性和女性成年人之间的萜类生物合成途径中的DEG可能与斑th素生产中的性二态性有关。男性成虫途径中上调的基因可能在斑th素生物合成中起重要作用，其生物合成过程可能是通过甲羟戊酸途径进行的。结果将有助于更好地了解和揭示Cantharidin生物合成的复杂机制。男性和女性成年人之间的萜类生物合成途径中的DEG可能与斑th素生产中的性二态性有关。男性成年途径中分配给该途径的上调基因可能在斑th素生物合成中起重要作用，其生物合成过程可能是通过甲羟戊酸途径进行的。结果将有助于更好地了解和揭示Cantharidin生物合成的复杂机制。男性和女性成年人之间的萜类生物合成途径中的DEG可能与斑th素生产中的性二态性有关。男性成虫途径中上调的基因可能在斑th素生物合成中起重要作用，其生物合成过程可能是通过甲羟戊酸途径进行的。结果将有助于更好地了解和揭示Cantharidin生物合成的复杂机制。