BACKGROUND The growth and development of insects is strictly dependent on the precise regulation of chitin synthase (CHS), which is absent in vertebrates and plants. Therefore, CHS represents an attractive target for insecticides. At present, the research on the CHS gene in mosquitoes, especially its biological functions, remains limited. RESULTS The full-length cDNA of the chitin synthase B gene in Culex pipiens pallens (CpCHSB) was prepared and consists of 5158 nucleotides with an open reading frame (ORF) of 4722 nucleotides encoding a protein of 1573 amino acid residues. Among different tissues, CpCHSB gene is mainly expressed in the midgut tissue with the highest expression in adult mosquitoes. Knockdown of CpCHSB in the larval stage significantly lowered the chitin content (16.5%) decreased body size (reduced by 25.6% in the larval stage and by 25.6% in the adult stage), and diminished reproduction (20%). Injecting siCHSB into adult mosquito mainly decreased reproduction (27%). CONCLUSIONS CpCHSB plays essential roles in growth and development, by severely reducing larval chitin content, midgut permeability, and reducing the number of female mosquito offspring. These results indicate that CHSB may serve as a potential novel target for exploring biosafe insecticides.

中文翻译：

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从淡色库蚊（Culex pipiens pallens）（双翅目：Culicidae）分离的几丁质合酶B基因的分子和生理学表征。

背景技术昆虫的生长和发育严格依赖于在脊椎动物和植物中不存在的几丁质合酶（CHS）的精确调节。因此，CHS代表了一种诱人的杀虫剂目标。目前，关于蚊子中CHS基因，特别是其生物学功能的研究仍然很有限。结果制备了淡色库蚊（Clex CHpi）中的几丁质合酶B基因的全长cDNA，该cDNA由5158个核苷酸组成，具有4722个核苷酸的开放阅读框（ORF），编码1573个氨基酸残基。在不同的组织中，CpCHSB基因主要在中肠组织中表达，在成年蚊子中表达最高。CpCHSB的减少在幼虫期显着降低了几丁质含量（16.5％），使体型减小（降低了25％）。在幼虫阶段为6％，在成年阶段为25.6％），繁殖能力下降（20％）。将siCHSB注入成年蚊子主要会降低繁殖率（27％）。结论CpCHSB通过严重降低幼虫几丁质含量，中肠通透性并减少雌性蚊子的数量，在生长发育中起着至关重要的作用。这些结果表明，CHSB可以作为探索生物安全杀虫剂的潜在新靶标。