@article{4ad70074cc75457585b7624e658ffc86,
title = "A midgut transcriptional regulatory loop favors an insect host to withstand a bacterial pathogen",
abstract = "Mounting evidence suggests that insect hormones associated with growth and development also participate in pathogen defense. We have discovered a previously undescribed midgut transcriptional control pathway that modulates the availability of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in a worldwide insect pest (Plutella xylostella), allowing it to defeat the major virulence factor of an insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). A reduction of the transcriptional inhibitor (PxDfd) increases the expression of a midgut microRNA (miR-8545), which in turn represses the expression of a newly identified ecdysteroid-degrading glucose dehydrogenase (PxGLD). Downregulation of PxGLD reduces 20E degradation to increase 20E titer and concurrently triggers a transcriptional negative feedback loop to mitigate 20E overproduction. The moderately elevated 20E titer in the midgut activates a MAPK signaling pathway to increase Bt tolerance/resistance. These findings deepen our understanding of the functions attributed to these classical insect hormones and help inform potential future strategies that can be employed to control insect pests.",
author = "Zhaojiang Guo and Liuhong Zhu and Zhouqiang Cheng and Lina Dong and Le Guo and Yang Bai and Qingjun Wu and Shaoli Wang and Xin Yang and Wen Xie and Neil Crickmore and Xuguo Zhou and Ren{\'e} Lafont and Youjun Zhang",
note = "We thank Prof. David G. Heckel from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology for his constructive comments on a draft of this manuscript, and we also thank Prof. Xia Cui and Dr. Haijing Wang from our institute for the assistance with the UPLC-MS/MS experiment. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32221004, 32172458, and 32372600), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M733828), the earmarked fund for CARS (CARS-23), the Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (Y2024XK01), the Beijing Key Laboratory for Pest Control and Sustainable Cultivation of Vegetables, and the Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS-CSCB-202303). Conceptualization, Z.G. L.Z. N.C. and Y.Z.; investigation, Z.G. L.Z. Z.C. L.D. L.G. Y.B. Q.W. S.W. X.Y. W.X. and N.C.; methodology, Z.G. L.Z. Z.C. L.D. L.G. Y.B. and N.C.; funding acquisition, Z.G. L.Z. and Y.Z.; writing \u2013 original draft, Z.G. L.Z. L.D. and N.C.; writing \u2013 review & editing, Z.G. L.Z. N.C. X.Z. R.L. and Y.Z. The authors declare no competing interests. We thank Prof. David G. Heckel from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology for his constructive comments on a draft of this manuscript, and we also thank Prof. Xia Cui and Dr. Haijing Wang from our institute for the assistance with the UPLC-MS/MS experiment. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 32221004 , 32172458 , and 32372600 ), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation ( 2023M733828 ), the earmarked fund for CARS ( CARS-23 ), the Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund ( Y2024XK01 ), the Beijing Key Laboratory for Pest Control and Sustainable Cultivation of Vegetables , and the Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( CAAS-CSCB-202303 ).",
year = "2024",
month = sep,
day = "9",
doi = "10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100675",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "5",
journal = "Innovation",
issn = "2666-6758",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "5",
}