The noa gene is functionally linked to the activation of the Toll/Imd signaling pathways in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel)

• Bdnoa RNAi can influence the expression of immune related genes in Bactrocera dorsalis.
• Microbial pathogen infections increase the expression of Bdnoa in B. dorsalis.
• Silencing Bdnoa influence the activation of Toll/Imd pathways in B. dorsalis.

The noa gene is an essential gene encoding a very long chain fatty acid elongase. In this study, we cloned the noa gene of Bactrocera dorsalis, which encodes a protein sharing 84.50% identity to the NOA in Drosophila melanogaster. The expression profiles indicated that the transcriptional level of noa was high at the egg stage and in the testis tissue. The results showed that noa expression was up-regulated after Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli infection. Silencing of noa would influence the expression of immune related genes, including MyD88 and defensin in the Toll pathway and relish and diptericin in the Imd pathway. Moreover, infection with L. monocytogenes and S. aureus after feeding ds-noa, the expression of MyD88 and defensin down-regulated significantly in ds-noa group compared with in ds-egfp group, indicating that noa interference influenced the activation of the Toll pathway. Meanwhile, infection with L. monocytogenes and E. coli, which activated the Imd pathway, do not cause increase of the mRNA levels of relish and diptericin in ds-noa group as severely as in ds-egfp treatment, indicating that the Imd pathway was also repressed after silences of noa.

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