RNA-Seq analysis of the blue light-emitting Orfelia fultoni (Diptera: Keroplatidae) suggest photoecological adaptations at the molecular level

Author(s)

Amaral, Danilo T. ^[1] ; Johnson, Carl H. ^[2] ; Viviani, Vadim R. ^{[3, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Grad Sch Biotechnol & Environm Monitoring UFSCar, Sorocaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Vanderbilt Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Nashville, TN 37235 - USA

^[3] Fed Univ Sao Carlos UFSCar, Grad Sch Evolut Genet & Mol Biol, Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology D-Genomics & Proteomics; v. 39, SEP 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Bioluminescence in Diptera is found in the Keroplatidae family, within Arachnocampininae and Keroplatinae subfamilies, with reported occurrences in Oceania, Eurasia, and Americas. Larvae of Orfelia fultoni, which inhabit stream banks in the Appalachian Mountains, emit the bluest bioluminescence among insects, using it for prey attraction, similarly to Arachnocampa spp. Although bioluminescence has a similar prey attraction function, the systems of Arachonocampininae and Keroplatinae subfamilies are morphologically/biochemically distinct, indicating different evolutionary origins. To identify the possible coding genes associated with physiological control, ecological adaptations, and origin/evolution of bioluminescence in the Keroplatinae subfamily, we performed the RNA-Seq analysis of O. fultoni larvae during day and night and compared it with the tran-scriptomes of Arachnocampa luminosa, and reanalyzed the previously published proteomic data of O. fultoni against the RNA-Seq dataset. The abundance of chaperones/heat-shock and hexamerin gene products at night and in luciferase enriched fractions supports their possible association and participation in bioluminescence. The low diversity of copies/families of opsins indicate a simpler visual system in O. fultoni. Noteworthy, gene products associated with silk protein biosynthesis in Orfelia were more similar to Lepidoptera than to the Arachnocampa, indicating that, similarly to the bioluminescent systems, at some point, the biochemical apparatus for web construction may have evolved independently in Orfelia and Arachnocampa. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/20176-9 - Transcriptome of larva and adult lanterns and larvae fatty body of Elateroidea (Coleoptera)
• Grantee: Danilo Trabuco do Amaral
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 14/50583-5 - Identification of the luciferases and acessory proteins of the bioluminescent system of Orfelia fultonii (Diptera : Keroplatidae): transcriptional and proteomic analysis
• Grantee: Vadim Viviani
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 10/05426-8 - Arthropod bioluminescence: biological diversity in Brazilian biomes, biochemical origin, structural/functional evolution of luciferases, molecular differentiation of lanterns, biotechnological, environmental and educational applications
• Grantee: Vadim Viviani
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/25051-2 - Transcriptome profile of Orfelia fultoni (Diptera: Keroplatidae): investigating genes and routes involved with bioluminescence in Diptera.
• Grantee: Danilo Trabuco do Amaral
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor