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Relevance of estrogen-related receptor gene and ecdysone receptor gene in adult testis of the cricket Teleogryllus emma (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

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Abstract

Estrogen-related receptor gene (ERR) and ecdysone receptor gene (EcR) belong to the nuclear receptor gene superfamily, both of which are associated with the regulation of insect reproductive development. However, the relationship between ERR and EcR and whether ERR participates in the 20E signal pathway during male reproduction are unclear. In this paper, adult male crickets Teleogryllus emma Ohmschi & Matsumura were divided into the experimental group, negative group, and control group. Crickets of the experimental group were injected with TeERR or TeEcR-dsRNA, and those in the negative group received EGFP-dsRNA. The efficiency of TeERR and TeEcR-RNAi was detected in the experimental group. Furthermore, the transcription level, morphological characteristics as well as weight were analyzed in the TeERR or TeEcR knocked-down testis. Results showed that the expression level of TeERR or TeEcR was significantly down-regulated (P < 0.05) when treated with 2000 ng TeERR or TeEcR-dsRNA for 48 h. The expression level of TeERR could be down-regulated (P < 0.05) using TeEcR-RNAi and vice versa. TeERR and TeEcR-RNAi caused morphological changes in testes, but they had no obvious effect on weight (P > 0.05). These results indicate that TeERR and TeEcR are intimately related to each other. In addition, TeERR may be involved in the 20E signal pathway and maintain the function of adult cricket testis.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant#: 31571276 and 31171195).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Reproduction and Development, College of Life Science, Shaanxi Normal University, No. 620, West Chang’an Avenue, Chang’an District, Xi’an, 710119, China

    Wenjie Jin, Yishu Jia, E Tan & Gengsi Xi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, China

    Wenjie Jin

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  1. Wenjie Jin
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  2. Yishu Jia
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  3. E Tan
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  4. Gengsi Xi
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Correspondence to Gengsi Xi.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Jin, W., Jia, Y., Tan, E. et al. Relevance of estrogen-related receptor gene and ecdysone receptor gene in adult testis of the cricket Teleogryllus emma (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Sci Nat 104, 97 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-017-1518-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-017-1518-9

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