Identification of two clip domain serine proteases involved in the pea aphid’s defense against bacterial and fungal infection

論文信息：Identification of two clip domain serine proteases involved in the pea aphid’s defense against bacterial and fungal infection.Li Ma, Feng Chen, Wen Wang, Lu Xu, Zhi-Qiang Lu，Insect Science (2020) 27, 735–744, DOI 10.1111/1744-7917.12673

JCR分區(qū)Q1，中科院SCI期刊分區(qū): 農(nóng)林科學(xué)1區(qū)，TOP期刊，IF=2.71

論文摘要：Phenoloxidases (POs) are required for the pea aphid's defense against bacterial and fungal infection. Prophenoloxidases (PPOs) are proteolytically converted to its active form PO through a clip domain serine protease cascade. In this study, we identified five clip domain serine proteases in the pea aphids. The messenger RNA levels of two of them, Ap_SPLP and Ap_VP, were upregulated by Gram‐positive bacterium  Staphylococcus aureus  and fungus  Beauveria bassiana  infections. Double‐stranded RNA‐based expression knockdown of these two genes resulted in reduced PO activity of the aphid hemolymph, higher loads of  S. aureus  and  B. bassiana  in the aphids, and lower survival rates of the aphids after infections. Our data suggest that Ap_SPLP and Ap_VP are involved in PPO activation pathway in the pea aphid.