The ZcVgR gene is involved in the regulation of reproduction and lifespan in female Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) mediated by short-term high temperature

Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) is an important pest of fruit and vegetable crops. Previous studies have shown that differential expression of the vitellogenin receptor ( ZcVgR ) gene mediated by short-term high temperature causes a decrease in egg number and lifespan in female Z. cucurbitae . To comprehensively understand the molecular mechanism of the ZcVgR gene in the regulation of reproduction and lifespan, Illumina high-throughput sequencing and Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) quantitative proteomics methods were used to determine the transcriptional and proteomic information of female Z. cucurbitae after silencing the target gene ( ZcVgR ) by siRNA in this paper. The results showed that after silencing the target gene, the expression of the ZcVgR gene was significantly downregulated at the transcriptional level, there was no significant difference at the protein level, and the correlation between the transcriptome and proteome was low; silencing the ZcVgR gene resulted in the downregulation of vitellogenin-1 ( ZcVg1 ), juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase ( JHEH ), troponin C ( TnC ), heat shock protein 70 ( HSP70 ) and other related genes at the transcriptional level, which reduced egg number and heat tolerance in adult females, leading to reduced reproductive capacity and short lifespan; silencing the ZcVgR gene activated immune-related pathways and inhibited energy metabolism-related pathways at the transcriptional level; activated Glycometabolism and Phagosome pathways at the protein level, and inhibited Phototransduction-fly and Autophagy-animal pathways. The results of this study may provide a theoretical basis for integrated control of Z. cucurbitae during the hot season.