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Abamectin treatment affects glutamate decarboxylase expression and induces higher GABA levels in the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri

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Abstract

The citrus red mite, Panonychus citri, is one of the most economically and globally destructive mite pests of citrus. Acaricide resistance has been a growing problem in controlling this pest. As the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in organisms, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is synthesized from the amino acid glutamate by the action of glutamate decarboxylases (GADs). In the present study, one novel GAD gene, PcGAD, was identified and characterized from P. citri. The opening reading frame of PcGAD contained 1548 nucleotides that encode 515 amino acids. The subsequent spatiotemporal expression pattern by RT-qPCR revealed that the expression levels of PcGAD were significantly higher in larvae than in adults. Challenging with various concentrations of abamectin resulted in the upregulation of PcGAD transcript levels. Furthermore, biochemical characterization indicated that changes in GAD activity coincided with its mRNA levels. High-performance liquid chromatography confirmed that the GABA contents of P. citri increased upon abamectin treatment. The application of abamectin induces PcGAD expression and activates GAD activity, thereby resulting in an increase in GABA content in P. citri, which contributes to the adaptability of the mite to abamectin challenge.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by Special Funds for Agro-Scientific Research and Grain Scientific Research in the Public Interest (201203038, 201413007-2), the National Natural Science Foundation (31672049), Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology (CSTC, 2015jcyjBX0061), and the earmarked fund for the Modern Agro-industry (Citrus) Technology Research System of China (CARS-27).

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  1. Wei Dou and Wen-Kai Xia contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China

    Wei Dou, Wen-Kai Xia, Jin-Zhi Niu & Jin-Jun Wang

  2. Zhaotong City Branch of Yunnan Provincial Tobacco Corporation, Zhaotong, 657000, China

    Wen-Kai Xia

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  1. Wei Dou
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Correspondence to Jin-Jun Wang.

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Dou, W., Xia, WK., Niu, JZ. et al. Abamectin treatment affects glutamate decarboxylase expression and induces higher GABA levels in the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri . Exp Appl Acarol 72, 229–244 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-017-0150-x

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