Genome-wide identification and gene-editing of pigment transporter genes in the swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus

作者：Guichun Liu, Wei Liu, Ruoping Zhao, Jinwu He, Zhiwei Dong, Lei Chen, Wenting Wan, Zhou Chang, Wen Wang, Xueyan Li · 发表于：BMC Genomics · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1186/s12864-021-07400-z · 被引用次数：14 · 研究领域：Insect Resistance and Genetics、Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research、CRISPR and Genetic Engineering

BACKGROUND: Insect body coloration often functions as camouflage to survive from predators or mate selection. Transportation of pigment precursors or related metabolites from cytoplasm to subcellular pigment granules is one of the key steps in insect pigmentation and usually executed via such transporter proteins as the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transmembrane transporters and small G-proteins (e.g. Rab protein). However, little is known about the copy numbers of pigment transporter genes in the butterfly genomes and about the roles of pigment transporters in the development of swallowtail butterflies. RESULTS: Here, we have identified 56 ABC transporters and 58 Rab members in the genome of swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus. This is the first case of genome-wide gene copy number identification of ABC transporters in swallowtail butterflies and Rab family in lepidopteran insects. Aiming to investigate the contribution of the five genes which are orthologous to well-studied pigment transporters (ABCG: white, scarlet, brown and ok; Rab: lightoid) of fruit fly or silkworm during the development of swallowtail butterflies, we performed CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing of these genes using P. xuthus as a model and sequenced the transcriptomes of their morphological mutants. Our results indicate that the disruption of each gene produced mutated phenotypes in the colors of larvae (cuticle, testis) and/or adult eyes in G0 individuals but have no effect on wing color. The transcriptomic dat...