Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

Developing oocytes accumulate plentiful yolk protein during oogenesis through receptor-mediated endocytosis. The vitellogenin receptor (VgR), belonging to the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) family, regulates the absorption of yolk protein. In this work, the full-length vitellogenin receptor...

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Main Authors: Zhang, Wanna, Ma, Long, Xiao, Haijun, Xie, Bingtang, Smagghe, Guy, Guo, Yuyuan, Liang, Gemei
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2016
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871585/
id pubmed-4871585
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-48715852016-05-31 Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) Zhang, Wanna Ma, Long Xiao, Haijun Xie, Bingtang Smagghe, Guy Guo, Yuyuan Liang, Gemei Research Article Developing oocytes accumulate plentiful yolk protein during oogenesis through receptor-mediated endocytosis. The vitellogenin receptor (VgR), belonging to the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) family, regulates the absorption of yolk protein. In this work, the full-length vitellogenin receptor (HaVgR) in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was identified, encoding a 1817 residue protein. Sequence alignment revealed that the sequence of HaVgR contained all of the conservative structural motifs of LDLR family members, and phylogenetic analysis indicated that HaVgR had a high identity among Lepidoptera and was distinct from that of other insects. Consistent with other insects, HaVgR was specifically expressed in ovarian tissue. The developmental expression pattern showed that HaVgR was first transcribed in the newly metamorphosed female adults, reached a peak in 2-day-old adults and then declined. Western blot analysis also revealed an ovarian-specific and developing expression pattern, which was consistent with the HaVgR mRNA transcription. Moreover, RNAi-mediated HaVgR knockdown strongly reduced the VgR expression in both the mRNA and protein levels, which inhibited the yolk protein deposition in the ovaries, led to the dramatic accumulation of vitellogenin and the up-regulation of HaVg expression in hemolymph, and eventually resulted in a declined fecundity. Together, all of these findings demonstrate that HaVgR is a specific receptor in uptake and transportation of yolk protein for the maturation of oocytes and that it plays a critical role in female reproduction. Public Library of Science 2016-05-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4871585/ /pubmed/27192057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155785 Text en © 2016 Zhang et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Zhang, Wanna
Ma, Long
Xiao, Haijun
Xie, Bingtang
Smagghe, Guy
Guo, Yuyuan
Liang, Gemei
spellingShingle Zhang, Wanna
Ma, Long
Xiao, Haijun
Xie, Bingtang
Smagghe, Guy
Guo, Yuyuan
Liang, Gemei
Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
author_facet Zhang, Wanna
Ma, Long
Xiao, Haijun
Xie, Bingtang
Smagghe, Guy
Guo, Yuyuan
Liang, Gemei
author_sort Zhang, Wanna
title Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
title_short Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
title_full Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
title_fullStr Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Characterization and Function Analysis of the Vitellogenin Receptor from the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)
title_sort molecular characterization and function analysis of the vitellogenin receptor from the cotton bollworm, helicoverpa armigera (hübner) (lepidoptera, noctuidae)
description Developing oocytes accumulate plentiful yolk protein during oogenesis through receptor-mediated endocytosis. The vitellogenin receptor (VgR), belonging to the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) family, regulates the absorption of yolk protein. In this work, the full-length vitellogenin receptor (HaVgR) in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was identified, encoding a 1817 residue protein. Sequence alignment revealed that the sequence of HaVgR contained all of the conservative structural motifs of LDLR family members, and phylogenetic analysis indicated that HaVgR had a high identity among Lepidoptera and was distinct from that of other insects. Consistent with other insects, HaVgR was specifically expressed in ovarian tissue. The developmental expression pattern showed that HaVgR was first transcribed in the newly metamorphosed female adults, reached a peak in 2-day-old adults and then declined. Western blot analysis also revealed an ovarian-specific and developing expression pattern, which was consistent with the HaVgR mRNA transcription. Moreover, RNAi-mediated HaVgR knockdown strongly reduced the VgR expression in both the mRNA and protein levels, which inhibited the yolk protein deposition in the ovaries, led to the dramatic accumulation of vitellogenin and the up-regulation of HaVg expression in hemolymph, and eventually resulted in a declined fecundity. Together, all of these findings demonstrate that HaVgR is a specific receptor in uptake and transportation of yolk protein for the maturation of oocytes and that it plays a critical role in female reproduction.
publisher Public Library of Science
publishDate 2016
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871585/
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