Du, M., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Liu, X., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Ma, N., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Wei, J., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Yin, X., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Zhou, S., Institute of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, China
Rafaeli, A., Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel
Song, Q., Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
An, S., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Liu, X., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Ma, N., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Wei, J., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Yin, X., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Zhou, S., Institute of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, China
Rafaeli, A., Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel
Song, Q., Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
An, S., State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Chemical signaling plays a critical role in the behavior and physiology of many animals. Female insects, as many other animals, release sex pheromones to attract males for mating. The evolutionary and ecological success of insects therefore hinges on their ability to precisely mediate (including initiation and termination) pheromone biosynthesis. Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) acts directly on pheromone glands to regulate sex pheromone production using Ca2+ and cyclic-AMP as secondary messengers in the majority of species. However, the molecular mechanism downstream of the secondary messengers has not yet been elucidated in heliothine species. The present study shows that calcineurin, protein kinase A (PKA) and acetyl-coA carboxylase (ACC) are key components involved in PBAN-induced sex pheromone biosynthesis in Helicoverpa armigera using PBAN-dependent phosphoproteomics in combination with transcriptomics. RNAi-mediated knockdown and inhibitor assay demonstrated that calcineurin A is required for PBAN-induced ACC activation and sex pheromone production. Calcineurin-dependent phosphoproteomics and in vitro calcineurin phosphorylation assay further revealed that calcineurin regulated ACC activity by dephosphorylating ser84 and ser92. In addition, PKA-dependent phosphoproteomics and activity analysis revealed that PKA reduces the activity of AMPactivated protein kinase (AMPK), a negative regulator of ACC by phosphorylating the conserved ser92. Taken together, our findings indicate that calcineurin acts as the downstream signal of PBAN/G-protein receptor/Ca2+ to activate ACC through dephosphorylation while inactivating AMPK via PKA to reduce ACC phosphorylation, thus facilitating calcineurin activation of ACC. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
