Caste-specific microRNA expression in termites: insights into soldier differentiation

作     者：Matsunami, M. Nozawa, M. Suzuki, R. Toga, K. Masuoka, Y. Yamaguchi, K. Maekawa, K. Shigenobu, S. Miura, T. 

作者机构：Hokkaido Univ Grad Sch Environm Sci Lab Ecol Genet Sapporo Hokkaido Japan Tokyo Metropolitan Univ Dept Biol Sci Hachioji Tokyo Japan Univ Toyama Grad Sch Sci & Engn Toyama Japan Natl Inst Basic Biol Funct Genom Facil Okazaki Aichi Japan Univ Ryukyus Grad Sch Med 207 Nishihara Cho Nishihara Okinawa 9030215 Japan Nihon Univ Coll Humanities & Sci Dept Biosci Tokyo Japan Natl Agr & Food Res Org Inst Agrobiol Sci Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan Univ Tokyo Misaki Marine Biol Stn Miura Kanagawa Japan 

出 版 物：《INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY》 (昆虫分子生物学)

年 卷 期：2019年第28卷第1期

页      面：86-98页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 09[农学] 

基　　金：Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [JP16K18613, JP25128705, JP16K07511, JP25251041] Model Organism Development Collaborative Research Projects of NIBB [17-202] 

主　　题：noncoding RNA microRNA termite phenotypic plasticity gene expression eusociality. 

摘      要：Eusocial insects have polyphenic caste systems in which each caste exhibits characteristic morphology and behaviour. In insects, caste systems arose independently in different lineages, such as Isoptera and Hymenoptera. Although partial molecular mechanisms for the development of eusociality in termites have been clarified by the functional analysis of genes and hormones, the contribution of microRNAs (miRNAs) to caste differentiation is unknown. To understand the role of miRNAs in termite caste polyphenism, we performed small RNA sequencing in a subterranean termite (Reticulitermes speratus) and identified the miRNAs that were specifically expressed in the soldier and worker castes. Of the 550 miRNAs annotated in the R. speratus genome, 74 were conserved in insects and 174 were conserved in other termite species. We found that eight miRNAs (mir-1, mir-125, mir-133, mir-2765, mir-87a and three termite-specific miRNAs) are differentially expressed (DE) in soldiers and workers of R. speratus. This differential expression was experimentally verified for five miRNAs by real-time quantitative PCR. Further, four of the eight DE miRNAs in soldier and worker termite castes were also differentially expressed in hymenopteran castes. The finding that Isoptera and Hymenoptera shared several DE miRNAs amongst castes suggests that these miRNAs evolved independently in these phylogenetically distinct lineages.